[applause] .. >> romney nationally leads the popular vote 50% to 48%. so, again, it's possible -- not necessarily likely, but just possible you could see romney winning the popular vote, not being able to pull out an electoral victory. we'd like to welcome everybody who's joining us now on c-span2. if you're on c-span 1, you have

to switch over. if you had a friend that didn't switch over, run over there, pound on that door. you can join us at politico.com, there's an e-mail that will come directly to us onset. we're going to bring you into the conversation. it's 10:00, the polls have closed in most of the states that will determine the outcome of this election. i would say if you wanted to step back and where do we stand at 10:00 on election night, the big headline, the one headline we know for sure, joe donnelly won the senate seat for democrats in indiana, a huge and what unexpected victory for democrats, makes it almost impossible for republicans to win back the senate. we have declared long ago that the house will stay in republican hands, it now looks like the senate will stay in democratic hands. so it's all down to the presidential race about whether or not we have a status quo,

divided government in washington. the early states that have been called are very much looking in barack obama's favor; pennsylvania, michigan, minnesota, wisconsin. four states in the manufacturing belt of this country that the president desperately needed to hold to win re-election, it looks like he's going to hold all four of those states. mitt romney desperately wanted to put pennsylvania into play in the final weeks of this campaign, invested time, invested money, did not pick up the state. what's important is virginia, florida and ohio. mike, you've got some inside dope on virginia and florida in particular. >> yeah. just to set the stage for the drama of the next hour or so, the mitt romney math starts in florida, virginia, then moves on to ohio. from the war rooms of both

campaigns, virginia is -- [inaudible] obama. now, the states are very close in the actual count, and we're trying to be clear here on our coverage about when a state is actually called and what the campaigns are doing, but we're also trying to pull back the curtain a little bit for you on what the campaigns are thinking. before the calls are made, what we're hearing. and just to give you a sense of what the mood is among republicans tonight, one of the top republicans in the country just e-mailed me talking about 2014, says there's another race in two years. so that tells you that the top republicans are hearing things from various states that aren't encouraging. florida, where the romney math starts, 50/50. hundreds of votes out of millions cast, but there is worry from people who are looking at where the votes are coming from that that romney could have trouble there. in virginia much more specific

trouble, and that is that counties where mitt romney needs to do much better than mccain did in 2008, he's not. the votes are coming in looking a little like 2008. in ohio republicans also say there's worrisome signs there. the biggest thing is that republicans went into tonight needing a surprise. they needed to catch a break. the polls have gone just a little bit for the president everywhere, and so they needed something to really be shaken up. as well as you're checking your e-mail here, what are you hearing from the city and around the campaign? >> i'm hearing that they haven't given up, the romney people haven't quite given up on virginia yet, but they're very, very worried about florida and ohio. >> [inaudible] >> yeah. just getting a look, you definitely see republicans concerned in those states, but

we don't know. we don't know until the final tally's in, so a lot of it is just sort of reading the moods of the campaigns at this point. but if you look at the map, it's not what republicans had hoped for. so to win they really, they needed an inside straight, they kind of need a royal flush now. they've got to really pull it out, each state has to tip their way at the end of the night that's still in play, and it's very difficult to do. and what looks like will happen tonight particularly if barack obama wins, regardless who wins, in congress to bring john allen into the conversation, you're going to end up with essentially a status quo congress, right? >> that's right, almost no difference. republican control of the house, no real difference. same thing in the senate, democratic control. looks like a little bit of a margin, elizabeth warren called the winner in massachusetts. the republicans booted another one in indiana which was just called, joe donnelly is going to be the new senator from indiana,

a democrat, who many people thought he had very little chance until richard mourdock knocked off dick lugar in the primary and then had those controversial comments about pregnancies caused by rape that really blew apart his campaign. donnelly now senator from indiana. >> one of our many reporters, patrick is taking a look at what's happening online, what's happening on twitter, what's happening on google. i'll tell you from politico's own perspective, in the last hour we've had 7.4 million -- [inaudible] which we started the company five years ago, blows my mind. that's three times what you usually do in a day. now seven million different eyeballs on different pages of the site. they're looking at maps, they're combing through the site. they keep coming back. throw us up on c-span, follow the results online, keep e-mailing us, we'll try to bring you into the conversation as

much as possible. gavin, what are you hearing? >> you mentioned the traffic that politico's enjoying, but across the board there's about 15,000 tweets a minute coming in right now,11 million tweets a day. when you realize in 2008 there are about three million folks on twitter, now you have 70 million, that's a huge amount. all day ohio has been trying to both on facebook, bing, twitter, google, that's one state folks are trying to keep their eyes on, trying to get some reports from the ground. in addition we're picking up on some pretty grim mood from a lot of conservatives, senior editor at national review chiming in, tim carney with the washington examiner talking about how a lot of conservatives that they're in touch with are not feeling good about this election. one other thing to keep in mind is we are sort of seeing twitter as the ground zero for some reports about long lines, about long polls, about longer hours, especially virginia. so right now when you hop

online, you're going to see the bulk of people talking about ohio, virginia, and a dour mood when it comes to conservatives looking at the election results today. >> for those watching on c-span, patrick is in "the politico" newsroom in virginia, we've got dozens of reporters there working the story, we've got reporters with both candidates and throughout the country. here at the newseum, we've got a thousand people on election night. the newseum is one of the national treasures as far as understanding the history of media in the united states around the world. we have some important breaking news that nbc, is it nbc? nbc is calling claire mccaskill the winner in missouri, and i want to talk about this with you, john, with you, lois. this is huge. two races that have been called, indiana and missouri. to put this in perspective, two months ago those were almost slam dunk republican wins. in both of those races, old, white christian men weighed in

on rape and abortion and saw their numbers go plummet. they saw them plummet. took slam dunk victories and turned them into losses. and if republicans were so outraged by todd akin's comments in missouri that they ducked out, they refused to back the guy, and it killed them. because missouri is a state if you look at the presidential results that is very republican, very socially conservative. and for them to lose the state to claire mccaskill who has had epic issues raised against you -- ethics issues raised against her, favorable ratings that are low, it's inexcusable for a party to lose. we now have ap also calling officially elizabeth warren the victor in massachusetts. there was some confusion earlier about whether or not nbc had done it. it's clear ap has, we consider that the gold standard of calling these races. you have massachusetts, missouri, indiana. what that means is we can now declare republicans will not pick up control of the senate,

and i think we think it's more likely than not that democrats will gain seats in the u.s. senate. that was unthinkable six months ago. it's going to lead to real recriminations inside the republican party about who made these mistakes and getting these candidates and failing to get people like todd akin out of these races and get electable republicans into these races that they have to be able to win. >> if you look at senate republicans other the last four cycles, they've been pummeled. in 2006 democrats weren't supposed to pick up the senate, they did. in 2008 they expanded to a 60-seat majority, they were able to get health care done as a result of the pickup that they had. in 2010 you had republicans have an opportunity to pick up the senate, they fell short. and now again a huge opportunity this year to pick up the senate, and it looks like they might actually fall backwards because of these races you're talking about, massachusetts, indiana and missouri. i think one of the things that we've learned over the last couple of cycles is when

republicans talk about the economy as house republicans did in 2010, they did very well. and when they get off into the social issues in swing states, they have more trouble. we saw that certainly with richard mourdock and with todd akin this year. >> again, at the presidential level it's way too close to call, so we don't know that barack obama wins re-election. if he does win re-election, it is clear to me from both e-mail traffic and conversations that i've had previously republicans are not going to interpret this as a rejection of republican theology. they're going to say across the board they had bad candidates. they had a bad candidate in indiana, a bad candidate in missouri. they're going to say that they had a bad presidential candidate. they're going to think they need to be purist, not accommodationist. they're going to think they need to become more id i don't imagine lag -- ideological, and not less. i can just tell you from talking to republicans, they think they have a mandate in the house because they picked up seats. and, excuse me, lois, sorry to

interrupt you. actually, we have jonathan martin who i want to get into the conversation. he's in boston. j. mart, if you can hear me amid the hoopla here at the newseum. you're a student at virginia, you've been e-mailing me all night about problems you're detecting in virginia. tell us the problems you see and why and what it means. >> the margins in conservative -- [inaudible] in the suburbs around richmond, chesterfield county is the biggest one, comparable to '08. in 2008 john mccain lost the commonwealth of virginia by seven points. the bottom line, barack obama can do a little bit worse across virginia and still win that state. if he wins the state, there's no path to the presidency for mitt romney. we'll get the western suburbs, look at the outer suburbs of northern virginia, the margins are comparable or a little bit better for romney than they were for mccain four years ago. so unless something big happens

in the two big jurisdictions still being counted, virginia beach and fairfax up by washington, d.c., i think that the commonwealth of virginia is going to stay blue and give president obama a second term. >> republicans knew that there was trouble there, or has this always been on your watch list? i feel like we've been talking about ohio because we've been always sort of mentally saying, okay, after romney gets florida and virginia, then he needs to get ohio. but even those initial building blocks aren't there now. >> yeah. mike, only in the last few days has virginia really come back on for a lot of folks. i think people thought it was going to go romney narrowly, it was a hard one to read, you know? the polling was sort of mixed. but in the last few days i think people increasingly came to the conclusion, this is really competitive. it's going to be closer than

people thought, and, guys, when i was talking with operatives in richmond early on in the night and the first numbers came in around richmond, they instantly knew, instantly knew what was going on, and they hit the panic button then. look, it's got a little bit better because some of the conservative counties in the far southwest part of the state, coal country, have come in huge for romney. but, again, romney needs the big two jurisdictions still out, fairfax near d.c. and virginia beach down tidewater to come in big, or he can't win it. >> jonathan martin, you're there at the romney election watch party in boston. what is the mood there? are they, are there tvs up there? do they get -- >> very subdued. very subdued. >> what we're getting from republicans? the states looked kind of 50/50, we can't be sure, but we're hearing real worry. >> they're very worried. they're very worried. people are looking at their

blackberries, looking at their iphones. they know this is getting harder and harder as the night goes on for mitt romney to find a path. and brit hume on fox news just came on, mike, and said that mitt romney needs to draw an inside straight to find 270 electoral votes, and at that moment you could hear a pin drop in this room. a very subdued crowd. they know how tough it is right now. a lot of people in this room assumed this was going to be an ohio, ohio, ohio night. here we are talking about florida and virginia still? so i think the folks here know they're in trouble. the e-mail traffic from the romney campaign is slowing down, and the obama campaign is increasingly upbeat. so all the body language speaks to deep concern among republicans. >> and, jonathan, what is happening there? are there any aides around? are people drinking? is there music? what is going on? >> there's a lot of standing around looking at blackberries and iphones and watching fox news on the big screen.

there's a bar, a cavernous room, tons of media, but mostly folks are watching twitter, looking at the results trying to figure out what's happening across the country. i think there's a lot of anxiety, where are these numbers? they're not blowing up. people are really staring down at their hands looking at those devices trying to figure out what's going on. i saw a senior romney adviser do a tv hit earlier. i mentioned the fact that some of the richmond suburbs were coming in, not the margins that romney needed. this romney adviser immediately pointed out that he was going to do better in southwest virginia, which is true, but, mike, as you know well from covering the old dominion, there's not a lot of bodies in the southwest part of the state. people in virginia typically live in the washington suburbs and down to the east and tidewater. those three population hubs dominate the state politics, and if you can't run up numbers there, you're not going to win statewide.

>> jonathan, i want you to listen to a fascinating e-mail that just came in. what we're trying to do here on politico and c-span, we're trying to reflect the conversations going on outside camera range that's going on among the campaigns, among top party people throughout the capital, and i just got an e-mail from somebody who knows republican presidential politics better than just about anyone who has access to the present information that's out there. and even though the decisive states have not been called and even though it's looking 50/50, florida we can't call, virginia, ohio, a sign of the republican pessimism, i'm getting a postmortem from a top republican. he's looking at how the votes came in, where they came from. he says young folks voted. the youth vote. hispanics killed us defining romney early and staying on -- [inaudible] no vision for the next four years for romney, just grilled

him. what kills me is in the exit polls 50-60% of people think we're going in the wrong direction. jonathan martin, does that reflect the feeling of some of the people that you're talking to privately? >> oh, yeah. yeah. privately republicans know they have a demographic iceberg that they have, you know, crashed into here the last few cycles, and it's not going away. that is by far the biggest concern when you talk to republican operatives and elected officials is how do we figure out young voters, hispanic voters, women, obviously, african-americans, the first black president. it is a huge problem. so that you hear again and again is the challenge for republicans. and we shouldn't forget tonight one of the big stories tonight that i see, guys, in both florida and virginia is the surge of african-americans, a really strong turnout. a lot of republicans are saying to me they didn't think there were more african-americans for obama to turn out from '08. they found a way. >> amazing.

jonathan, we'll be coming back to you in boston. thank you very much. and ap is now calling republican mike pence who was a house republican, won the governor's race in indiana. >> also nbc is projecting that deb fisher has defeated bob kerrey in the senate seat in nebraska. that was a democratic-held seat, that is a republican pickup. that was one republicans were reasonably confident that they would win, but it got a little close for comfort at the end, again, for republicans they'll take solace in taking some of these seats and limiting any damage that they would have in the senate. i think they're much more upset about what happened in missouri and indiana, two seats they should have won that they did lose. we're bringing carrie back into the conversation by popular demand. what are you hearing when you're off camera, what are you hearing specifically from the obama folks? we're assuming -- we're trying to read the body language from a

lot of republican incoming e-mails, read it from the obama folks. >> you know, i mean, i think the senate, the balance -- one more thing in these senate races is something that, you know, is going to give them -- i think like i said earlier -- another data point as they talk about, um, a mandate. i mean, ity we've heard the president himself say that he beliefs whomever wins would have a mandate, he believes he has a mandate to do certain things if he wins. the senate races, you know, democrats are psyched about that. you know, they feel like, you know, this was a year that republicans should have done a heck of a lot better than they're doing now, and we're seeing every, you know, every race go their way. you know, without a doubt feeling good about it. >> all right. and, again, for republicans who are looking for good news in the early results, the good news is republicans are doing very well in the house races, they're easily going to keep control of the house. worst case scenario, they only lose a few seats, they might

even have a chance to pick up seats. we had the national republican congressional committee chairman, jeff sessions, on earlier. he predicted they would pick up seats. that seems a little optimisting, but they have a chance to. i think we're projecting based on the results that we've seen, we don't think that democrats will lose control of the senate. it's disappointing for republicans. they really had hoped that regardless what happened with mitt romney, that this would be their year on capitol hill and that they could get control back and can really start to jam things -- and really start to jam things from the congressional side even if they couldn't win the white house. we were talking a little bit before about candidate selection for republicans in the senate. they've had general election candidates that turned out not to be good, sharron angle, todd akin, richard mourdock. i think we're going to see some serious soul is searching b about how they can get back to a point where the party gets to pick its best general election

candidate to go up against the democrat in these senate races. until they do that, they're going to continue to have trouble winning not only the true swing states and battlegrounds, but like tonight in indiana and missouri mitt romney's going to win both of those states. at the same time, their senate candidates are going to go down. they've got to figure out how to get control of their nomination process in states across the country or figure out how to make the folks who are in control of that process a little more competitive. >> it's 10:22, polls have closed in most states, not all states. it's going to be a long time before we start to see results out west, but beyond nevada which we don't think is much of a toss-up as we once thought it was, the romney folks don't feel that great about nevada, so most of the action is on the east coast and in the midwest. of the states that have been called, it's been a good night for barack obama. he won pennsylvania, looks like he's going to win michigan. he won wisconsin huge. i think the one we've not talked enough about is new hampshire.

the ap has called new hampshire for barack obama. that was a state that mitt romney thought he had a really good chance of winning, neighbors, massachusetts -- >> [inaudible] >> does he have a house there? >> i think so. >> talk about new hampshire. >> just looking at the exit polls, just unpacking them a little bit, and people are going to be looking at whether mitt romney really had the momentum that he seemed to or that they claimed. you're going to hear republicans say you heard former governor haley barbour over the weekend saying the storm had really blunted his momentum. if the president's handling of the storm was important to your vote, 41% of people said that the president's handling of the storm was important to their vote. so this is really a chance for him to become -- [inaudible]

as the commander in chief, and he performed well, and it seems to have made a difference. >> if i can interrupt you, we're going to go to one of our favorite features for everyone who's been with politico in the beginning from our primary live shows early on in the process, charlie cam. >> pay-per-view, but it's free tonight. [laughter] >> all subscribers, we're sorry, it's all free tonight. charlie who is literally wrote the almanac for american politics, is a student of a lot of these counties, the nitty-gritty of politics. charlie, what are the most fascinating things at the presidential level in the results that have come in so far? [inaudible conversations] [audio difficulty] >> well, apparently, we don't

have a great connection with charlie, so i'm staring looking stupid into the camera. >> charlie cam but no charlie audio. >> it's a tease, it's just a little bit of a tease. so what you'll get later. charlie's probably still talking. interesting if you're ooh in "the politico" newsroom. what we want to talk about with charlie is what are we seeing in the early results that are interesting. i just walked through the states, we were stuck on new hampshire being one of the more interesting states that's been called because it's one mitt romney thought he could win. it has a fair number of moderate republicans. at the end of the day, he couldn't run as a moderate republican til the very end, and that probably hurt him in new hampshire because it was mitt romney who won the governorship in massachusetts who could have won in new hampshire, not mitt romney who had to run to the right to win the republican nomination. >> yeah. and they were very optimistic that the sort of moderate turn, the moderate mitt that we saw in debate one was really going to help them, especially in

virginia. it was one of the places they specifically mentioned to me being the more moderate mitt would help them up here in northern virginia. i think northern virginia maybe will be an example of places the storm really helped the president. people were looking for confidence, and they started to see it. >> i think you have to, you have to wonder what would have happened if the storm didn't happen. the story tonight would have been completely different. and, you know, i think maybe the exit polls suggest to a certain extent mitt romney would have continued his momentum. the storm gave the president that chance to flip the narrative back that he lost in denver. you know, that's the moment he needed to get things back on track without it it'd be a completely different story tonight. >> and we're a publication that believes powerfully in second chances, and rumor has it charlie cam is here, there, and he's going to work. charlie, i'm praying it's going to work, buddy. hey, charlie, tell us what

you're seeing in the results that interest you, especially in the counties that might give us some indication of how things might unfold in virginia, florida, anywhere else? >> well, in florida it's obviously a close race with about 10% left, and it's right on the trigger of an automatic recount which is .5%, so that's pretty interesting. we don't have a full picture yet, but a couple of things are much clearer right now. if you look through appalachia, you've got coal country reacting pretty strongly to barack obama, dragged out a congressman today, ben chandler, so the first incumbent was really a casualty of the war on coal, ben chandler, a further diminishment of the blue dogs. but what you see in places like virginia is romney's doing better than mccain in many suburbs, but it's not quite clear that he's doing well enough to win these places. and it's interesting because it's a very different pattern than we've seen in recent elections. it's not moving one way or another. you see chesterfield and lowden

county and prince william county, important counties like that in virginia, sort of showing different signs. it's not quite clear which direction they're going right now. >> charlie, i wanted to check what you're seeing in florida. we're hearing that republicans are worried that it's so close. republicans wanted to have a bigger lead in florida than they do right now. could you break down where the vote is actually coming in? if i'm a republican or a democrat, am i more concerned about florida? >> well, what you're concerned about if you're a republican if you want numbers coming out of the north certainly out of duval county, the jacksonville area, that's a place, a reliable place for republican votes in most presidential years, the panhandle is another place where you can get some conservative votes. you want to do well on the gulf coast side where all the midwesterners retire, places like pascoe county. a key county for both parties is tampa, and that's been going

back and forth all night. that's a key bellwether, but the one thing you want to worry about if you're a republican is south florida because if you look at broward and palm beach and miami-dade, that's really where democrats run up the big margins that republicans elsewhere have to catch up to. >> and, charlie, if i can ask you about some incumbents who have lost tonight, we've already seen one house incumbent go down in the north carolina, larry kissel, and another republican, roscoe bartlett goes down in maryland. can you tell us about what's going on there and if you expect any other incumbents to go down? >> i don't think there's any huge surprise of the three that have gone down, everyone sort of pronounced rose coe bartlett dead on a arrival right after the congressional map was signed in maryland. there was almost no way he was going to win that race and really didn't show a whole lot of signs of life throughout the campaign. maryland democrats did a great job of drawing him off the map. and when you take a look at the

other two members, what it suggests is you're going to get a further diminishment of the ideological middle in the congress because two of the three people that have gone down tonight, the two democrats are both blue dogs, larry kissell of north carolina and ben chandler. kissell was somebody many people in the house thought was gone weeks ago, and there were signs democrats had given up in that race. chandler's a little more of a surprise, although most people understood he was in a lot of trouble. what's interesting about the chandler race, though, is he was able to withstand the republican wave in 2010. he barely squeaked by, but in a rematch this year he was unable to largely because of the so-called war on coal. he was just hammered in his district day in and day out over his connections to the obama administration, and he really ended up being haunted by his 2008 endorsement of barack obama. his district is sort of on the edge of coal country in west virginia, his district is not a hard core coal district, but

coal plays a role in its economy, and it really hurt him this year. >> so i'm happy to be able to give conservatives some encouraging news for republicans, a lot of states are still toss-ups, a lot of states are still out, but the news has been a little bleak for republicans so far. but we're hearing that in the senate seat in virginia that george allen is still in the hunt, that the race against tim kaine, another former governor, is close. charlie, have you had a chance to look at kaine/allen lately? how does it look to you? >> allen had a slight lead, but i thought i heard maybe some of these outlets had called that race. it was right before i went on the camera. when you look at the counties, it's an unusual map. some things you might expect like tim kaine rolling it up in richmond, fairfax county, but allen's holding his own in some places, he's holding his own --

he's doing really well in the southwestern part of the state, doing well in roanoke, and seems to have a little bit of strength in the hampton roads area which i think is keeping him in the hunt right now. >> so we wanted to ask you a quick question about florida. we're seeing results come in hillsborough county, one of the big swing areas there. george bush won it 53-46 in 2008, then obama now -- i'm sorry, got that the other way around. in 2004 obama up now by a similar margin there. how do you win florida without counties like hillsborough, osceola, some of those other big, famous swing florida states? is this tipping towards obama, or does romney still have an even chance there? >> i don't know that you can win florida without hillsborough. if you take a look at election results going back to 1960, hillsborough has predicted the winner every single time. it is the swingiest of the swing counties. so in that sense it's different

as a predicter than osceola, the county you mentioned, because osceola has changed a great deal demographically. it's next to orlando, and the real demographic change in orlando which is orange county and outside orlando, osceola, there's been this influx of puerto ricans which has really changed the politics of that area. and that's really in president obama's sweet spot. and from every indication the president was poised to do very well with democratic, with puerto rican and american voters who tend to vote democratic which make them very different than the kind of hispanic voter that florida has accustomed to which is the republican-voting cuban-americans. so osceola is certainly very different in some respects than hillsborough. >> so, carrie, let me ask you what you've got loaded up for tomorrow. what are you thinking? are you getting any sort of thoughts about what the theme of tonight is? i know you're going to be on early writing in the morning.

i, too, have an early morning call, so what are your thoughts so far? >> before we get into that, you know, we're getting full reports that the president's on his way from his residence downtown to the fairmont. um, i think that's a sign that, you know, they're feeling good about the way things are going. i don't think you'd have the president on the move away from his house if there were things that they felt were, you know, sort of unclear at this point. he's supposed to go brief senior staff before he goes to the convention center for his speech, so i think that's some sign that, again, they're feeling possibly pretty good about where things are going tonight. you know, as for tomorrow, i mean, my focus for the next few weeks is going to be on what happens with the debt, the deficit, taxes. and so, you know, my story in the morning depending on who wins, um, is, you know, what happens next. if it's a romney administration, what happens? if it's the president, you know, what is his strategy? how is he going to talk about

it, how is he going to execute it? um, and a lot of these things it's going to depend entirely on how the house republicans and mr. mcconnell would interpret the election. if the president wins. and then, you know, going from there, but it's going to be a lot of watching public statements and, of course, back channel talks are about to begin really. >> carrie, people say in a second term would president obama be more left or more centrist? what's the answer? >> you know what? i think it depends on the issue, to be honest with you. i mean, i think i'm going to see -- >> pick off some of each. >> okay. well, i think on the fiscal cliff he's going to try -- he's going to try to get a compromise which means he's going to have to give quite a bit on entitlements in exchange for republicans really stepping back from, like, a core doctrine of their party, and that's no new taxes. there i think you're going to try to see him go down the middle of the road.

on immigration reform, um, which is something he's made clear he's going to try to push for, and i think we're getting signals that republicans are going to try to get serious on that as well, i mean, i think the president will start off, you know, more to the left because he's going to have to come back to the center whereas taxes and the debt and deficit, we've already sort of litigated the vast array of options. the president's already laid down sort of what his final negotiating position is. he did that in the summer of 2011. it's hard to bluff that given he's already made clear -- you know -- >> we've seen the movie, we know how it comes out. >> they've seen the movie, and he's laid down his farthest position that he'll go, whereas with immigration we haven't really litigated that in a few years, and it will be somewhat of a fresh start in terms of where he can start his negotiating position. climate change, i think that's something to watch. it's not something we ever expected maybe a year ago to sort of enter the mainstream of what he may push. you know, we could see that

given what happened with the hurricane last week. so we'll have to see. >> mike, there was a direct question you asked, i talked to a prominent progressive leader just a few days ago who said on the fiscal cliff issues if they trusted obama, it depends on which obama shows up. >> sure. >> and there's a hope that it's going to be the obama that will defend entitlement programs, it's a hope that it's going to be the obama that really goes to the wall against republicans. what carrie's saying is and i think what the reality is you're going to have a president obama who knows he has to work with a divided congress, not the democratic congress that he had when he first came into office in 2009, you're going to have a president obama who's thinking about his legacy, and if the next four years are like the last two years, that legacy is not going to be one to hang his hat on. so i think you're going to have a president obama who, as carrie suggests, who goes toward the middle. find a pram what who can -- president obama who can make a deal with john boehner, with

mitch mcconnell. one of the things bill clinton often did was go a little bit to the other guy's side to get a deal because he loved a deal. we haven't seen that as much from president obama. wonder if we'll see that in this coming term if he has a coming term. >> you know, i've talked to the white house, talked to them about the sort of tone that he'll strike in the next -- good news? talked about, you know, they pointed me to positions, passages from his stump speech recently where he's saying i want to compromise, but there are clear lines i want to draw. so there's a little bit of both there. >> we're going to go now to chicago to obama campaign headquarters with the democratic national committee chairwoman, congressman debbie wasserman schultz is joining us live. madam chairman, some big wins tonight. we hear the president's getting ready to move. what is the level of optimism in your campaign?

[audio difficulty] >> tonight our senate races in the states that president obama's already won, the key battleground states, we've stood up the largest, most dynamic, most significant -- [inaudible] presidential campaign in history, and i'm very proud of all of our efforts. [inaudible conversations] >> congresswoman -- >> mikey, set the stage for where things are right now -- [inaudible] do we know more about ohio, virginia, florida now than we did a half hour ago, or will we even know in the next hour or two? it certainly looks like florida

is going to be an all-night thing. it's so close. at one point by a couple hundred votes. >> [inaudible] >> go figure. you said that in our politics, one of the defining characteristics of presidential elections these days. but you seem to think virginia and ohio we will know more sooner, right? >> virginia as we saw, that conversation with jonathan martin coming in from boston, great concern by the romney campaign that the numbers just aren't high enough in the places that they need to be. we're seeing the map right here on politico.com, and we're getting the figures going in live to those counties, and the campaigns know what the margins need to be in each county, even each precinct. and virginia's an example of the place where we're seeing the power of the obama turnout operation. you know, we wondered was that a myth, was that something that they'd chalked up more than what

was real. but i thought the people who voted in virginia today, they said that one polling place in fairfax county that there were obama workers at the polling places with smartphones, with devices like ipads, with tablets, they were checking off obama voters as they voted so they would know exactly who voted and would be able to go out and get them. there was no such effort by the romney, by republicans, nobody checked him off. >> we have lots of surprises for people who stick with us throughout the night. one of them, if we can get the technology right and get the volume and everything right with all the noise in here, is we're going to bring mike and i every morning, we go on morning joe to talk about what the latest in mitt coe. we're going -- politico. we're going to turn the tables. we're going to get to joe and miko skype hopefully simultaneously, so we'll have a morning joe segment on politico. that's one of many treats -- >> evening joe. >> evening joe. and one of the other treats is

going to be bringing politico reporters in as each and every result comes in so we can start to decipher what does the next congress look like, ultimately who is the next president, what does that mean for the governing agenda. because at the end of the day these are consequential moments, these are consequential decisions. the difference in the direction of the country under a romney administration versus under an obama administration, to me, is pretty profound. you wouldn't know it, because neither of them told us what they would do in a second term, but we do know that republican theology and democratic theology are very, very different, particularly when it comes to the size and growth of both. i think that's the defining issue of our generation. >> just to break in, one of the biggest swing states, nevada, abc and cnn have called that for president obama. this was not a surprise. the romney people were pessimistic about nevada, but it's just another example of how

this very small map, surprisingly small map, is turning blue in state after state. >> right. again, and if as we keep trying to do throughout this night for our viewers on c-span2, folks at politico.com, is put all of this stuff in perspective of the things that we know on the presidential level, every single one of them has broken in the direction of the president. new hampshire, nevada, wisconsin, michigan, minnesota, pennsylvania. every state that was plausibly up for grabs has gone to barack obama. an important note on that, almost everything we're seeing is breaking the way that public polling suggested it would. there was a big debate over the last month about whether or not media companies cooked the books on polls or whether or not people are just missing something in the electorate. what i've always told people about polls and i think it's proving out true tonight is you can't trust one individual poll,

but when a bunch of polls say exactly the same thing, you can pretty safely assume that's where the public is. and that's what we're seeing across the board in races tonight. >> and i think we have to give credit to president obama and his operation. people said it was impossible for there to be the excitement that there was in 2008. the polls, one of the criticisms of the polls that i, frankly, thought there was something to was they were assuming a 2008 mix of the electorate. what we're hearing is that in many places there is a 2008 complexion to this electorate. and i think that's not something we would have expected. we would have said that democrats, they were depressed. they're turning out from everything we're seeing. >> i don't think that the obama campaign cares that much whether the voter's excited when they show up, whether they're enthusiastic so long as they show up, and i think what you're seeing, you didn't have the kind of rallies you had in 2008, the newness has worn off, but his

coalition has come back strong in 2012 the way that it was out there in 2008. your right, jim -- you're right, jim, everything that's broken so far tonight has broken barack obama's way, and if mitt romney is to win, he'd have to pull at least that inside straight at this point. still, those states are out there, virginia, florida, ohio, still out there. too early to call, but if i were the obama campaign, i'd feel a lot more comfortable than the romney campaign right now. >> mechanics matter, demographics matter. >> yes. >> in a state like nevada, a state that should have been up for grabs, has a large mormon population, republicans have had some success in that state including conservative republicans. two things hurt the romney campaign, and they were both, i think, of obama's making; the president decided i'm going to focus on the latino population in that state which has been growing, which has changed the complexion of that state and made it much more hospitable to democrats -- as long as we have

the current dialogue on immigration, and they focused a lot more money on spanish-language ads, methodical on talking about immigration reform. important speeches in that state. at the end of the day, i guarantee that's what's going to be the difference maker in that state. that stuff matters. >> okay, we're going to go now to massachusetts where scott brown, senator scott brown is speaking to supporters. >> [inaudible] [cheers and applause] >> [inaudible] [cheers and applause]

>> i want to thank my mom, i want to thank my mom -- [cheers and applause] [inaudible] >> i'm not sure what's going to happen, but -- [inaudible] [cheers and applause] [laughter]

[cheers and applause] >> concession speech, one of the most competitive seats in the country, millions of dollars on both sides. i think scott brown ran a good race. sometimes you raise the money, you run a good race, you draw a good opponent, and you happen to represent a state that's not very hospitable to your party, and you lose. >> that's right. scott brown is going to be the senator with the highest approval rating ever to be defeated in modern memory. his approval rating is in the 60s, and yet he's losing. and that's because he won in a special election where massachusetts, which in 2004 was

the most democratic state in the nation, john kerry got more votes there, a higher percentage of the votes there than he did anywhere else. so that was always going to be uphill for him. and jim pointed out earlier a couple of disappointments for the romney team which is having such a tough night in so many states. they were optimistic about. scott brown's pollster and three consultants all also worked at romney hq in boston. >> and, again, it's not just the scott brown defeat that has republicans bothered tonight, it's that they lost indiana and missouri, because those are two surprises. so that's three seats you lost, now, it's been offset a little bit by a pickup in nebraska, senator bill nelson stepped aside. there was a very competitive race with bob kerrey who's been a figure in american politics for the last 30 years. he had a comeback at the end, wasn't enough, couldn't win. we're going over to george allen

now who is up at the podium here in virginia. >> you have heard from all over virginia, we've learned from them, we've heard their voices, and it's important for people to advocate for the values and the families of small business people throughout the commonwealth of virginia who haven't been being listened to up in washington. >> and so we were just listening to senator george allen there. jim and i were talking earlier about what the senate losses mean for governing, and what we're hearing from senate republicans is they aren't going to concede anything in a governing context. they're saying from our point of view this is a status quo election, we wind up with the same leaders we had before. this is a remarkable concession by a top senate republican official. they say barack obama has proved that he can run a great campaign, he hasn't done as well at governing. so now you take that remarkable

statement with the interview that speaker boehner gave to politico in columbus, ohio, yesterday. we have both republican leaders going in ready to fight. they're not, they don't seem to be chastened at all. >> right. and go back and watch "60 minutes" from this past sunday where they had this segment -- it wasn't the best ever -- but there was an interesting interview with harry reid and membership mcconnell simultaneously told. i think the first interview they've done perhaps ever, and you watch the body language, and you understand why we have a broken senate, why we have a broken congress. the two of them just basically point the finger at the other, show no willingness to compromise, don't feel like they have to compromise because they feel they're winning the ideological war, and they feel that their opponent -- they vilify their opponent saying that they're the ones who are making the miscalculation, they're the ones that are making

congress an inhospitable place as far as getting things done. >> and yet there's some evidence that there eventually will be a deal. i think the media's going to assume gridlock -- >> let's go to, let's go to allen to hear his -- in virginia. >> conceding. >> unleashing america's energy resources for more jobs, for opportunity, greater national security and also revenues to the government everywhere from our coal fields to the coast of virginia. virginians are ready, willing and able to provide america with the energy to power our economy. most important of all, we spoke to and called on america to renew our historic commitment to individual freedom, personal responsibility and opportunity for every american to succeed. i remember hearing from so many virginians in so many ways

whether this is the small businessman in guthrie county where he said i want the government to get off my back and out of my pocket. [cheers and applause] entrepreneurs and small business owners. and those ideals did not prevail in this senate contest here in virginia. but -- [inaudible] we all hoped for, we must prevail as a nation with these ideas. it may not be tomorrow, it may not be next week, it may not be next year, but these ideas, these principles must prevail because they are good ones, and they are historic, fundamental principles of our commonwealth of virginia and america. and these ideals and these principles are our hope for the future. and i pledge my best efforts as a private citizen to promote these positive ideas as i keep fighting and keep advocating for

all of these principles and ideals that we all believe in. and, folks, it has been a long and difficult campaign. it's also been a joyful one. for susan and for me and i also think for our children. [applause] [cheers and applause] we've met so many generous people from all walks of life and every region of our commonwealth, and every journey we've been lifted up, lifted up by your words, your encouragement, your generosity, and we've always felt your prayers. that meant the most. and from the bottom of our hearts, susan and i thank you and all the people of virginia for these many, many kindnesses. and i can't leave here without thanking certain people on our campaign staff and the key

leaders. mike thomas, wherever mike is -- [cheers and applause] >> george allen, the republican candidate in virginia, conceding a loss in a state republicans desperately needed to win. we're live here at the newseum with a rowdy crowd, a mixture of democrats and republicans hooting and hollering. we want to welcome our viewers on c-span2, on politico.com. thank you for joining us throughout the evening. there's no other way to put it at this point. every result that has come in that we know, it has been a democratic night. democrats have won all of the key seats that they needed to win, the incumbent seats in the u.s. senate. they have picked up seats in massachusetts, they won virginia, picked up indiana and missouri, two states they did not think they could win two

months ago. that's four pickups of the democrats. they did lose a seat in nebraska, that was offset. but a big night for democrats in the senate. we've been declaring for some time now the house will stay in republican hands, the senate will stay in democratic hands, we now believe democrats will net a gain in the u.s. senate this year. at the presidential level, the reason we still have lots of intrigue, all the states that have been called have been called in president obama's favor. but the states that remain open -- colorado, iowa, virginia, ohio -- >> florida. >> -- florida, those states all remain too close to call. for mitt romney to win, he needs to win every one of those states. difficult to do, not impossible. but if you look at the numbers, they favor barack obama. if you look at the early results, particularly in the virginia, the feedback we're getting from people who know the state, mike knows the state, covered it for 30 years, it looks pretty good for barack obama. not good enough to call it, but

if that happens, it'll be a heck of a night for democrats. to show you what a divided country we live in, you could have a great night for democrats where they gain seats in the senate, but they have a bad night in the house. that republicans despite a favorable rating, 10% for congress, despite the fact that the republican brand in the house isn't that strong, they could end up netting a gain or just losing a few seats. so republicans are still going to have the foothold of power in the house. they're not going to have it in the senate. the only mystery, mike, is who has the presidency. >> and, obviously, that's not a bad job, right? and seeing the exit polls, we dig into who voted and what they thought, and we're seeing some of the clues of why we're hearing so much concern from republicans, why we're hearing republicans already talk in postmortem terms, why they don't think they're going to pull it out tonight. according to the network exit polls, whites were the lowest percentage of the electorate

since 1976. 72%, so they continue to tick down. romney holds an -- this is an astonishing fact. romney, who's losing, holding an 18-point lead among whites. that's the biggest lead for a republican since 1988. but listen to this. the gender gap. obama's leading among women 55-43. we've been talking about the hispanic women were republican, but women, you can't win a national election if you have margins like that. >> can i pound on that, because we're going to be talking a lot through the rest of the night about the mechanics of elections. if you go back and rewind the tape, the obama white house and the obama campaign hardly let a day pass for the last year where they did not make an announcement, give a speech, run an ad or do something specifically aimed at swing independent women voters. and if you look at the gender

gap in the states that matter, you look at that gender gap nationally that mikey just talked about, success. it was a successful strategy. women vote, more women vote than men, so when you're winning a big percentage of them like that, that would mean that republicans would have to be winning men by 15, 16 points to be able to offset that, and that's just too much to ask, i think, of any political party. so republicans have several issues that they're grappling with certainly in the senate races, they're grappling with the fact that they don't get enough latino vote, they don't get enough african-american vote. it looks like african-american vote is higher than most people anticipated in this election. that would be a victory for the turnout machine for barack obama, and again, it get withs back to the mechanics matter. and as the night unfolds, we've done lots of reporting over the last couple months about the mechanics of both of these campaigns, and we'll walk you through why we think mitt romney even if he ends up winning the presidency, ran an inferior

campaign when you just look at the raw mechanics; how do you raise money, how do you turn out voters, how do you spend money? >> breaking news, the first of the swing states to go to mitt romney, north carolina, a state that president obama picked up almost to his surprise in 2008 has gone to mitt romney. it's going to be a small consolation prize if he continues to have trouble just north of that in virginia. north carolina where the democrats held their convention, hoped that it might be sort of the cherry on top, that's gone to mitt romney. ..

will you do and they're coming in. they are holding together and they are turning out across the board. we have a huge turnout. we didn't think it was possible, but all of the turnouts are big. >> let's go to our political newsroom in roslyn, virginia. where we have the politico global headquarters.

>> well, you know, twitter can be an indicator of things. it is pretty much what you are talking about. we are seeing a lot of increased interest and momentum from the obama camp. some of the results came in from arizona. we will see how much that holds together. the reality is more and more as the night goes on, the majority are pro-obama. people are enthusiastic about the president's chance for reelection. mitt romney is trying to find a needle in a haystack at this point to showing you what is behind patrick gavin, the editor is right over his left shoulder.

standing there is greg gordon underneath the politico sign. we have about 30 people in the newsroom on my covering every aspect of the campaign. we encourage you to visit politico.com. we have the breakdown of how the states are coming in county by county. reflecting peoples interest in the campaign, the math is really easy to use and easy to manipulate and understand. >> in other breaking news, one of the most closely watched races is in illinois for the house. joe walsh and tammy douglass. she is the democratic favorite. one that has brought lots of money and lots of attention and coverage. >> zeroing in now.

>> we will talk about the house reasons a little bit tonight. we'll be talking to the consequences of the outcome. they will retain a majority that will give them the reelection with more democrats potentially in the senate. the real effect on governing. the florida results, virginia, all of them close. in each one of the states, colorado, florida, virginia. very narrow.

every other one, very narrow with a margin for barack obama. if that were to hold, that is what you get. >> republicans are already talking about the presidential results. jonathan martin in boston, we talked to him a few minutes ago. governor romney is struggling. struggling to do well. the projection for the one swing

state that mitt romney has one, north carolina, it is to be a narrow victory. just a week ago, momentum was abound. 60% of people in ohio, 57% of people thought that the auto bailout was good. in north dakota, the senate working on the budget for a long time.

there is a slightly with the democrats in that race. >> tonight, right before we went on the air, that was the number one statement of optimism. these states are one by one coming in throughout the night. >> until we know the results of the presidential race, the senate races -- the senate results for democrats are a big deal. because if you have massachusetts going to a very liberal and outspoken democrat who is instantly going to be one of the freshmen sensations. you can usually tell these things ahead of time. it is a big deal. indiana and missouri. two republican states. both of those states went for mitt romney at the presidential

level. both rejected republican candidates. republicans are going to be kicking themselves for a long time. if north dakota were to flip, virginia, i don't think it is a set state. it is a purple state, a tossup state. a very big night on the senate side for democrats. >> we are getting an e-mail from a top senate republican aide. looking at this problem that we have been talking about all night. republican leadership on the inability to steer the candidates. the republicans saying from a purely political standpoint, candidates matter. todd akin, the candidate of missouri, the 2010 candidate.

high-level operatives and top senate republicans. >> cnn is calling iowa for barack obama. again, holding the midwest wall. the fact that the president is going to win iowa and wisconsin and minnesota -- michigan and pennsylvania -- the only missing piece of the puzzle is ohio. it is almost impossible for barack obama to have a victory. unless we see something different out of virginia or ohio pretty soon. this could be a huge celebration. >> republicans are looking at the worst-case scenario. mitt romney wins only north carolina and colorado -- we don't know yet about florida and

ohio and virginia. this is the part that we see a lot of coverage about the next next couple of days. high-level operatives have already begun studying the rasmussen reports to make a change in the business model to address this problem for the next cycle. what they are saying to translate that -- a change in the business model. changing how they get their candidates. how the party on the national level acts with the state parties. too much is at stake to allow candidates to operate at that level. >> adding to what you were just saying, republicans plan to meet with outside groups right after the election. in an effort to try to get

conservative groups to align with the establishment. to do a better job of picking a likable candidate in these races. 2010 and 2012 are very our business what you need a strong party structure to influence the outcomes. democrats have done a better job under chuck schumer and others who can help straight victory that they need in the primary to get the most electable candidates. we have seen that play out time and time again. >> now going to boston. we have politico standing by. tell us what you're learning? >> thank you. it has been an interesting night here. certainly a little subdued. i have been talking and e-mailing with some of the big people in the private parties and the convention in the convention center. they're going to be coming up here when mitt romney gives his speech. but so far i have been hearing that they are still crossing their fingers that mitt romney can find a way to win tonight.

>> you see photos of celebrations in chicago. the obama people feel like it is over. they feel that they are going to win ohio and virginia. they think the numbers look really favorable. they think they will probably win florida. give us the most optimistic take that you hear from us clear minded republicans in boston right now. certain counties in ohio that are still waiting to come in, some counties in virginia, a big stronghold before obama. it's hard to see the path forward. it is still too close to tell, especially in florida where we have some counties that are

still outstanding. >> thank you. >> it is 11:13 p.m. mbc has projected obama winning the presidency. we are hearing the cheers behind us. we don't know what mvc is basing it on, but nbc is about to call ohio and virginia. it is almost impossible, new mexico and nevada has been called. we always knew it would be a very limited path. the associated press that the gold standard for when we call races. everything that we are hearing is flaring up with what mvc is declaring as far as the presidency. again, until it's done, it's not done remark.

>> is trying to look like we have been hearing from mitt romney's headquarters of the votes are not coming in in the places that they need to be coming in for them to win virginia or florida. as we came on the air, we were told that they were sick with worry about the midwest. they have no optimism. nbc projected obama winning the presidency. we are waiting. very cautious. joe is joining us by sky that we still have him on. joe, if you can hear me, give us

your take on tonight. >> it looks like nbc is calling it. your station is calling it. [inaudible conversations] >> unfortunately we have a bad connection and we cannot hear them. the streaming over there, the network -- some folks are calling ohio and all of them. they are calling all of ohio for barack obama. that would make it official that barack obama will win reelection to the presidency. it would also make it official

that it's been a huge night for the democratic party. picking up seats in the senate, the democrats picking up seats in the u.s. senate. the type of mind that the democrats have dreamed about. much bigger than republicans have operated echoes what we saw on the polls. none of these are runaway races. it is a 5050 country with a set of mechanics that mattered here it. it is not like we are looking at these states and seeing a blowout. but it is a victory. a win is a win. i will show you a mandate and all the presidency.

>> joining nbc and protecting its -- projecting that president obama won four more years. they are probably more pumped up tonight than any republican. it is going to lead to months and months of soul-searching for the republican party. they need to figure out how to use stitch together a governing majority when it looks like 72% is going to be -- [cheers] [applause] [cheers] [applause] >> the republicans failed to recognize that the white majority has been shrinking every year in the last 20 years.

they have expanded the demographics. i think there is going to be an enormous amount of determination about how to get those people back. they alienated women, talking about killing plan parenthood. they will have to go back and look at the strategically and look what happened and where the country wants the party to be. >> it will be a big question about how they have determined the victory on both sides. i will say if you remember when george bush won reelection in a tough environment, karl rove gave him a lot of credit for navigating extremely difficult political situation.

i don't think you can overstate the importance of this presidency in this campaign. no decision that matters in a governing contacts -- he has now won -- he is the quarterback on to successful presidential races in very difficult circumstances. using very difficult strategy. one was brought in hopeful and the other was nasty and narrow. in both cases, his strategy was consistent and proves successful and it can be one of the big stories coming out of it. >> breaking news, president obama claiming victory. he is now tweeting that it happened because of you. claiming victory after networks projected that he has the 270 electoral votes that he needs to win. >> a big night. what were going to turn it over the next hour is try to walk

through the mechanics of us and how we think we got here. not huge victory in every state, but narrow victories were the tactics mattered. if you look at the exit polling, people didn't fall barack obama for a bad economy. more people have very sophisticated understanding. some of it was the reality of economic cycles. >> barack obama, starting to shift the message. starting to say it's going to take time. let me finish what i started. i think people started to buy

into that. they were thinking oh, do we want to start again with somebody else? when we are starting to see some improvements. >> we are seeing here the tweaks were president obama claimed reelection. it was an accident. he made this happen. he goes on to thank the organizers and for right now, barack obama said thank you.

he's going to have a senate that looks a lot like the senate in 2008, probably a lot more comfortable than was the first four years. right now mitt romney has the lead in the popular vote. it is the status quo, it will be more of the same. we don't know if it will unfold as they can get anything done. >> i think he will be very conscience country and cautious of his legacy. and he will try to reach out. he will try to make sure that they will look forward in terms of economics and the environment. women's rights, a lot of things

having to do with his legacy. we are going to see him try to govern, and the house may be a big problem for him. >> putting into context, how do you think it will unfold in the next coming months? >> i think a second term will be very tortured. we saw this. we saw this with george w. bush. we had a lot of trouble. after his reelection victory in many ways, it was similar to the one barack obama had.

there is an enormous challenge for any president facing a second term. >> specifically to barack obama, i think he has to do something to energize the second term. it is the case that he did not provide a clear vision of what he wanted in the selection. as i said earlier in the broadcast i think that the mandates are kind of baloney. the ability to persuade. you live in the moment is a national leader. so we have plenty of opportunities to energize the

presidency. but i do think that we need to take a moment and let the mood of the country. >> how much of the credit for this victory goes to the mechanic of the campaign, as we have talked about? peoples connection with obama. it sounds like people like what they are hearing. >> first off, we have made the point many times tonight. there are some very narrow yard lines. we know that there is a democratic president.

>> whited mitt romney lose? was it him? was a message? was a gen x? >> all of the above. i mean, i don't think this was a winnable race for republicans. it's not like walter mondale in 1984.

some of mitt romney's personal defects as a candidate, he is not somebody who is able to achieve great success and then translate that into a political context. >> he may be a good man and a good leader in some context, contexts, but he is not a good politician. one of the big questions i have that we talked about is why did he not hard to find himself on favorable terms that would capture those earlier than the first denver debate. this is the business of last spring and summer. that is a big question marsumme. that is a big question mark. >> in the newsroom, you have marty over your shoulder and a lot of folks to books that cover

this. how big of a deal -- and we have been saying the results in the senate, virginia, massachusetts, particularly missouri and indiana. republicans to suffer these losses, it seems like it is not as big of a deal as the reelection of barack obama. but a really big deal in a political context. >> they tell us about the challenges of the modern gop than the presidential election. that was related to a lot of different factors relating to mitt romney. the overall health of the parties. shining a very harsh light armor. taking senate seats that are clearly winnable and losing them by putting up candidates who are out of the mainstream even in conservative states. but resolve happened because the establishment of the republican

party basically is not in control of the party. the activists are and they do not have a winning track record in identifying candidates who can win in the states where they need to win. it is a big problem when you take to senate cycles in a row in 2010 and 2012. when you lose them through undisciplined politics. either through recruitment or message and. >> for viewers who are trying to put the mike in context, so democrats have a great night on the presidential and senate sides. but it looks like republicans will have a pretty good night on the house side. how does that happen? when the house of representatives is so unpopular, but they cannot replicate on the house side, help us understand that. >> it is not a big mystery.

it is the particular way that the house districts are drawn to maximize advantage. republicans are proving more durable. and you get another big election and it would be -- we have had three wave elections, free shake them up elections in a row. 2006, 2008, the big republican victory in 2010. as is the first status quo keep the system intact but we have had. not surprising that the republicans hang onto their hats.

>> the circumstances are not as much in his control is clearly he would like. that is when the questions in these next several months. to what extent is the republican party changing that they will want to move things off the agenda and they will want to cut a deal with president obama one place that could happen is immigration. does the internal ideological work prevent that from happening?

the biggest question is can president obama, now that he has a second term, can he pick up the of 2011? neither republicans nor democrats come up barack obama leading democrats, neither one of them have the strength to push the party someplace it a month ago to talking about the paradox. a big blue night for democrats. a big night for the presidency and the senate and a bread knife for the house. states are suddenly tipping blue.

>> something when we first reported this 20 years ago. >> this is not a wave elections. it is part of the status quo that neither party has a decisive advantage. basically the alternative of failure when it comes to these issues.

>> i've been answering the questions honestly the whole time. >> do think as big of a night for barack obama was possible or contemplate will? or did you think that the swing states are going to be more extreme than what they want a? >> i don't see it as this dramatic big night. it would be hard pressed to say that it is fantastic -- it is a good night. that beats the alternative. president obama has said that he

is on his way to claim the victory very shortly. the convention center in chicago where he is going to give his victory speech. the songs were playing as he was making his way, it is how do you like me now. we also have president obama announcing via twitter. >> we have any indication that mitt romney is conceding? i haven't heard anything on that front at. >> there is a lot on that front. picking up and running folksinger they want to see more out of ohio before they officially conceded. i think one of the big winners tonight are pollsters. the polling was almost spot on. it looks at the results are

going to be really close. i think early on, there could be a real electoral and popular vote victory for president obama. it looks like florida, virginia, ohio, all of these states are going to come down to a couple of points. each and every one of them. it is like a broad mandate. again, mandate is what you make of it and the victory is a victory. i could care less if you get the presidency. the burden is on barack obama to turn it into some sort of mandate. he will be inheriting, once again from a divided government. he was able to work magic -- he was able to get health care and get a stimulus. because he had all democratic control. it requires real finesse and next saturday to deal with divided government. he has never really shown himself to be a dexterity guy.

i will say from our reporting, his relationship with john boehner is not bad. we think it gives good chance of there being a deal on a grand bargain. john boehner wants to get things done. >> early in the presidency, the liberals, because they thought that he was offering too much concession to the public. then people as he was telling him that you have to stand up for the people and get some backbone. >> reading e-mails from the politico newsroom.

an interesting conversation taking place on fox as to why they called ohio. at the end of the day, it may not matter. you can see a massive obama celebration. in chicago the race is actually quotes. >> this is something we need to keep an eye on. this is exactly what happened in

2000 mitt romney is getting some pressure from the right. i don't know that obama will give a speech. even if the ohio call was premature, even if it were premature, by no means does that mean that it would change the outcome of the race. there is so much distrust on both sides. there is so much emotion that plays out on msnbc.

there is a level of real anger. >> to be mr. sunshine here for a minute -- >> you are nothing but mr. sunshine. >> we talked earlier tonight. >> apparently the romney campaign is not conceding ohio yet. >> but we are awaiting an official news alert that does call for president obama. talking about virginia, these other states, we waited 500 sundays for this election. to figure out what the end

results are. again, whatever the process, people are participating. it looks like turnout are is high. we'll check we have good minority turnout. but we talked as we live in a hyper polarized culture. we have barack obama with a slim majority without a mandate and house republicans -- they are going to look at these results and say, we had a good candidate, and we should walk away with 60% of the vote.

one thing we may have to revise and we don't have enough numbers yet to be sure, but president obama has said that he may win because of hispanics. i think it may be women who turn this around. certainly, women made it possible for him to win this thoroughly. this huge gender gap persisted. that is what has put him over the top. >> i think that's true. they use every asset of their command to try to drive a wedge between women and the republican party. but i do think that it helps enormously -- the latino population. they registered in large numbers in colorado and florida and even

ohio. it was a very big demographic for him not i will give you a couple of scoops on things to watch in the days ahead. the relationship between governor romney and chris christie. chris christie was complaining today about these leaks. about whether chris christie -- >> chris christie is right about this. >> the beauty of this is the back story to be wrote about this weekend. chris christie was the first pick for mitt romney to be his vice president. they were so close to naming him

that they had started making plans for a friday announcement of governor chris christie. people as close as you can get to mitt romney thought was a done deal. at the last second, things popped up, they changed their mind. lo and behold, a week and a half later we had paul ryan. i don't think chris christie would've made a difference. but it is interesting and there has been a lot of contention that the convention culminating today between chris christie. >> chris christie is not a guy that forgets. he has a lot of pride.

>> that is well said. chris christie helped president obama get reelected. it's kristy christie was part of that. >> i want to look at the real-time results. democrats are in the waning senate races. north dakota, nevada, new mexico and wisconsin. if that were to hold and a lot of those are too close to call, that means you end up with a senate that has 54 democrats and two independents. bernie sanders and angus king, the newly elected independent from the state of maine. there would be 56 senate democratic votes.

mitt romney has structured a very flawed campaign you have mitt romney they say if you are your own lawyer, that's not a good idea. it is a terrible idea. they had a very inefficient structure, a confused message. dealing with a candidate.

they were shocked at his first debate performance which was a masterful debate performance. recognizing the irony of mitt romney -- the business guy -- the way one person described it was mitt romney was a product. as a result of that, you never have clear lines of authority and accountability. >> from the reporting, chris

stevens said that they are two very different guys. you know, mitt romney is a ceo type. stevens is a free spirit. it is interesting. it is interesting and frustrating to a lot of people on the staff that chris stevens had free reign. >> yes, he will take a beating and a lot of these aftermaths. let's go to the politico newsroom. tell us what we are working on right now. and how you think we will cover this over the next 12 hours. >> we are right now at the obama headquarters in chicago.

he is talking, he is using the n-word -- mandate. george bush and 2004 did this. he tried to extend it howard sherman will give us a perspective on that story. i think we will see stories

about how the republican party really in this election showed itself as a party of older viewers in any kind of fix that if they have any hope -- we will start talking, hillary clinton come in 2016 -- you will be the name on everyone's list. we will explore how serious that is.

>> with a surprisingly right now is how -- i don't want to say obama is winning easily, but really, mitt romney wasn't able to put any of this in play. north carolina is the state i would've been shocked about. it looks like obama could still win florida.

i am surprised at how eagerly obama was able to hold them at bay. >> thank you for letting us check in with you one more time before the end of the night. we have colorado that has been officially called for barack obama. the romney people were most optimistic here. they thought that this was going to be one of their states. colorado along with florida. >> has virgin event called? >> virginia? has it been called? >> the presidential race is

still out. >> yes, and i think with the exception of the debate over a ohio, i know it doesn't matter about colorado and iowa moving away. virginia does not look good. it doesn't acquit the president will be defeated. >> you think we will hear from the president tonight? >> i think he wants to hear a concession for mitt romney bursts out of respect before he would actually do it. unless obama felt that mitt romney was unusually stubborn. usually you tend to be gracious in these moments and give somebody a reasonable amount of time. unless you feel there is a reason to just go ahead and get out there. >> we picked up earlier on the fact that they weren't conceding ohio. >> apparently there is a discussion on fox. karl rove is thinking that the election was called too early and the romney people are

planning on conceding. there is definitely some resistance going on or. >> good news for republicans. jeff flake has won the arizona senate seat. it was one that the republicans thought they would when they tighten up at the end. the news isn't as bad as it could be. but if it's bad for democrats. we don't know if tommy thompson will survive in wisconsin. we don't know the outcome in montana. it has been a great race there for jon tester running for reelection in montana. 50/50 state for democrats and republicans. he is running as a conservative democrat. one of several democrats running in the senate who spends a lot of time running against his own party. it is sort of a trick for winning in the swing state. democrats have been more accommodating in recent years to democrats doing this inside the

party. republicans have been intolerant of it. >> north dakota, they have been optimistic -- obama is and his party were really tanked up in chicago.

>> that is one of the things we are hearing out of the obama campaign -- one of the messages. things have held together. >> that is the funny thing. everything has played out almost precisely who the way the obama folks have said it would. winners and losers -- super pacs. what did they have to show for? some of that money went into knots as the presidential races but senate races.

>> that romney might not want to give up quite yet. >> the romney motorcade is moving towards the convention center. >> what is mitt romney do next? >> mitt romney is out of politics here. >> this is what doesn't happen.

i don't think he becomes the head of the party. i think he kind of politically falls off the table. >> we are back to 2008. sara taylor, rush limbaugh, glenn beck. obviously believe will not be any of those three. who is the leader of the republican party. >> i don't think we know who the clear leader is. ..

if republicans are looking, i recommend they go back to the convention on the next generation of leaders, whether it the election of the congress, condoleezza rice, marco rubio. paul ryan's speech. there is a young crop of republican thinkers who i do think a more progressive. i don't know if that's the right word, progressive on immigration and other issues that could make the party more compatibly socially with the broader american public and let them

place banks could be economic. they've got to somehow get there quick. >> to rethink that paul ryan or marco rubio could eat no, if they were the nominee? >> it's clear barack obama was eminently beatable in this campaign. jeb bush would've beat him. >> rubio may be. i don't think paul ryan. >> may be and never again will you have an all white male republican ticket. in either party. i think those days are officially over. the demographics just don't work. under our any republicans that haven't come to that realization. i think this election is going to change the mind that if some republicans. remember company tea party in the house of representatives. it's now three years then. it then they are and they've

seen the reality of government and it changes minds. i've seen this for 20 years in congress come that people come to washington. they are going to fight one way not going compromise. they always end up compromising. >> brand paul, leader of the tea party, a real future scholar of the party here but is he done? is really aligned himself with mitch mcconnell, who could demar back of the throwback institutionalize, southern republican. he's done it in a way to figure out how to blend those two sides. read paul runs for president. he runs much different than his father did. his father is a libertarian and he was extremely appreciative and his orthodoxy. that won't be the case for rand paul. he wants to the group and that's going to be the key for the party. they have to find a way to take

that ripping of the republican party, make it the central face of the republican party, recruit more minorities come to strike a on immigration. that should be the first thing john boehner should do. were going to do comprehensive immigration. >> they had to project tolerance. they're not projecting tolerance with regard to immigration are women or homosexuality. you know, they are projecting rigidness and that's not the face of america. america is extremely diverse right now. they have to figure out how to balance all of that or they're not going to win. the american electorate is not all white men. >> 2016 at this point looks like paul ryan, marco rubio so far? >> i think you got a bunch of people talking in that. i mean, i think christie is

definitely coming in now, he's got an ego and feels independent right now. >> i think the one thing that is certain is no name benefited more from this came pain in the clinton. if you look clinton mustered the democratic nominee to follow barack obama, she could not be in a better position. her has been rehabilitated his image. she is for the visit to did her image. you might argue she doesn't want it. i think she's going to run. it doesn't mean there aren't a bunch of other democrats that won't want it. but boy, it would be something. >> they know in a the america, and the chance the democrat reelected three times in a row are tough. she would've done a lot better off running against the president romney. but who knows how the next four years unfold. clintons are back front and center. they are not going anywhere.

secretary of state relatively soon. she's going to write a memoir. a couple people writing books. >> i think she's tired. if you put a gun to her head right now, she say she doesn't want to run. this has been very stressful on her. i think she wants to regroup. there has been really would like her to run. >> romney headquarters to watch on screen, much different than chicago. i know many crowds for the candidate loses. it's fun because there's a lot of republicans. the republicans still watching with us coming back to get over this idea that the media is always out to get you in the polls are skewed. the polls are never skewed. they reflect what the country is. the media for the most part does a good job, tries to do a good

job of getting the facts out there. pollsters do their job. they try to pull a complex divide. it is what it is. at some point from the people have to knock themselves away from this idea, that nothing subtle level. i think for the country to get to the next seven months to get over the site of the debt limit and get sequestration, tax reform, it's going to require some exceptions of a common set of facts. >> so we just past midnight. 45 minutes since the networks are projecting. president obama would be reelected. there would be no president. for years. we still don't have a call for florida, virginia. still looking very close, the democrats optimistic about how they'll turn out. the big prize, ohio.

it looked for a while like he was going to be close. early trouble for romney in florida and ohio, florida and virginia, but ohio fund have been the case networks and eventually "the associated press" the confidence to project an isolate church and a selection. >> representative tom latham won the house reason i was there district. another race defeating leonard boswell a democrat. it looks like according to her guru is back in political shop that republicans will lose three or four house seats. much, much better than republicans had not a couple months ago. i would say that the silver lining at the house majority is intact pretty strong. you've got john boehner. he'll be returned to speaker. those reporters don't know what they're talking about.

it's unlikely there could be a challenge to john boehner. he will be returned to speaker of the house. eric cantor will be the number two ranking republican in the house. he set up an interesting dynamic, where you have interesting relationships that could possibly lead to some negotiation and potential compromise and that eric cantor, the number two republican devotes quite a good relationship with joe biden, the vice president we've talked about tonight. so there's two relationships, boehner, obama and cantor and biden that could facilitate it be some discussion. we have the romney headquarters that they are come a bunch of people bombed out, waiting for him to talk. >> jake tallman on the romney camp lane, e-mailed me and sat on the plane governor romney had insisted in there was no concession speech. he written only gave it three speech in a very met romney like way, he said there was the 1118

words, very romney lake. they celebrate them to do so but this is headed because he said i fought as hard as they could. i left it on the field. that's not what a winning candidate says. >> very interesting. the polls have been told they could be anywhere from 15 minutes to an hour, so we don't know. >> they are still not conceding. they still want to see the results for themselves and ohio. again, people might wonder, why they conceding an everyone's following a? you have you have to remember they are under tremendous pressure for people who've invested their money from these millionaires and billionaires to put tons of money to elect this president and fundraisers, working the phone tirelessly. they don't i give up. they don't want to be seen as giving up. but romney -- you cannot

commence a bad candidate and we will. i think will be extremely harsh and dissect being the campaign he ran because he did not run a good presidential campaign. but the one thing true about my family from every person who's come in contact that we've talked to, he's a good guy. you might not like the politics. we try to do the right thing, has a good family. we've got to know family members over the years. just could people. but romney, knowing him and hope about tomorrow and start working business again, they believe in his public service and so there's definitely the people closest to him. the romney family thought they were going to win, that they did at the right way for the right reasons. i don't think romney is a man of introspection and reflection. i don't think he spent a lot of time wondering what round wrong. i think the campaign will spend a lot of time wondering what was

wrong. >> going back to another "politico" reporter. gibson joined us by phone. ginger, tell us where you are and what you're hearing. >> we're on the risers overlooking the crowd here in boston. still at large number of people. but you can tell they are anxious, looking at the television frequently getting worked up and make start talking to president obama has won. >> so we are just hearing briefly from ginger gibson. we are the romney rally. he says he wrote only a victory speech. he prepare only for a bit to remarry, but we see their disappointed people. >> are you hearing some of governor romney supporters are resisting him conceding at this

point? >> there is a definite sense people are not prepared for him to concede. some reporters have been in touch with the e-mail are telling me the numbers aren't they are. but the real believers in the ram, when candy crowley came up, there were loud boos. she's here in the arena mh on her out. anytime someone suggested he could concede at any point, the crowd reacts very loudly. >> ginger, thank you for joining us. an interesting little anecdote at the romney gathering, where people on the big-screen credits cnn up cnn's candy crowley and the crowd started booing and shouting fox, fox, fox. the romney gang gathered would much rather watch fox, which still debates whether ohio should've been called.

karl rove got the call was premature. the former architect who worked for bush for two successful campaign is a contributor to fox news and obviously someone that republicans listen to. so i would say karl rove has got a lot of explaining to do. it does not look like karl rove has had a very successful night. it doesn't look like any outside groups have added successful night. >> you're working late at night -- [inaudible] >> i think a lot of republican groups will have some explaining to do. because so much money in senate races in four democrats -- it looks like it should be not just one seat now. it could be multiple seeds. that's a huge problem for the sa groups who invested all this money. there is this thought.

without a billion bucks make a big difference. looks like it might've been some of these house races. >> american crossers is going to argue without their spending over the summer that met romney would've fallen off a cliff. they also will argue that their senate candidate would've been badly upset by democrats. >> that's going to be their whole justification, to prop up the senate and the house candidate and therefore romney got the money. they are going to have any regrets on expenditures. let me ask you ask them what happens if romney doesn't concede tonight, which i'm wondering about. will it be tomorrow? >> i don't think that's what it's playing out here. i think we're going to know more and virginia and the county reports that the numbers in florida have been pretty consistent. i think they just want to know. they don't want anybody inside the party, the people who bled

for this campaign. they just don't want to disappoint them. the election is over. barack obama has won the reelection. they know that. my comment you tell me that they need this morning because they were seeing the same thing in the polls. >> or number 2004 when everyone is clamoring for kerry and made he said john edwards -- i'm just coming out to say we're not going to do anything. we're going to wait until tomorrow to see what happens in ohio. >> at lease or not john edwards. >> can be picked up on any signs that republicans have known this was coming? you kindly been a charade click >> i don't think it's been a charade, but they had deep doubts all along and after the debate, i think maybe he could

get over the top. but after obama came back fighting, i think there was wishful thinking because of the polls all over the place. nothing is a charade, but they were talking about it. >> we're going to go to jake sherman in the political newsroom. for those who've been watching, they saw jake pop up and look shocked about five minutes ago, one of the highlights of the evening. hopefully you're well prepared to talk about the house races because i'm hungry for some specifics. what's that look like? what are the net number of seats democrats will pick up in the house be some results were seen so far? >> we can talk about the senate and house of representatives. we will start with the senate, where democrats have really almost cleaned up. they won bill nelson, ended connie mac's political career, a race that is not even close. bill nelson is a democrat who

voted with obama time and time again, but to feed a connie mack a commission to the right and tied himself to met romney, who obviously did not have a good night either. and virginia come we cite george allen, the republican former senator and governor. we didn't think the race is over. the ap had not called it. across the board claire mccaskill b. todd akin. i got e-mails from several republicans saying who is to blame for this? is there so many dcb can hang this around? republicans are down in the senate, not feeling good about prospects. not upbeat and cherry. let's talk about the house of representatives. some reasons are outstanding and the two would look at the alex finds that, allen west in southern florida and michelle bought been in minnesota. alan west of southern florida obviously is a huge fundraiser,

firebrand party conservatives. he's within less than a point in the southern district. that very well could go to some sort of recount. it's obviously not over yet. michele bachmann is extremely close. she's facing jim green, a businessman in st. cloud area, democrat to this meter run the race of her life. another race were talking about is bob dole in chicago. bob dole was a moderate republican and had the backing of michael bloomberg super pac with millions of dollars in television advertising in that state late in the game. bob dole lost that seat in illinois. now, illinois democrats did very well in illinois. john boehner said blades of dollars to boost republican prospects. they're not expecting to do that well. they lost the seats.

bill owens, amory burkle lost her seat to dmx say who she defeated in 2010. at the end of the day, john boehner is the republican for the best night in washington. no question about that. mitch mcconnell is not the majority leader. harry reid is still in power. john boehner still has a commanding lead in the house of representatives and still views his numbers as a mandate. i think i did a pretty good rundown. >> nick sherman, what indications did you pick up in that interview with speaker boehner about whether he was willing to deal. he set a high bar in his interview with you, saying he wouldn't even accept raising taxes on people who made a billion dollars or more. what could you read between the

lines? that was opening position, not the endgame. >> i think it is an opening position. he wants to try to for us off the fiscal cliff, to raise taxes and try to hang it around his neck. barack obama is not up for reelection. there's no question republicans have lost a great deal of leverage. john boehner will say what he wants. not going to raise taxes at the reagan building a few blocks from where you guys are broadcasting from comments that is not going to raise taxes. at the end of the day is a cluster at this point. our senate reporter been talking about this. republicans lost a great deal of leverage. john boehner, whose goal is to get to a point where tax reform could have been. how because there is unclear at this point, but republicans have lost the upper hand in an extraordinary leverage of capital tonight.

>> thank you, jacob will hopefully put together a show or we can bring you in to see what's really going to happen on the fiscal cliff and what we can make the new democratic majority in the senate, republican majority. how the new members on both sides fit in. there's so much to interpret in the next 24 hours. no better place to go than "politico." he got 100 editors who break the stuff in the high and mighty what does this mean about the country in this moment to the nitty-gritty of what it means for transportation policy and infrastructure committee. big and small. >> we party got a story up about what elizabeth warren and massachusetts needs to the defense budget. >> god bless "politico." it's amazing. there'll be tons of that for the next 100 days. so many different numbers on different committees. a different power structure. the next couple of months you

have to do with the payroll tax, all the bush tax cuts expiring. the sequestration taken in, whether or not they can avoid a catastrophe spending across the board that the defense companies have warned to cause hundreds of thousands of jobs. with the federal debt limit to what hit we think in february. whether or not the congress lets the debt limit is an open proposition at this point. important issues that have to be grappled with. we'll take the nitty-gritty because a lot of stuff will be decided in the next couple weeks. >> we think what is likely to happen itself frankly mess around. the real negotiation will come in december. we expect to find a way, they call it the deal to make a deal. if as a parameter of how you view tax reform, how you will avoid -- how you will raise more revenue without raising rates in the way republicans won except.

so what both sides hope is the way to do that by new year's day. democrats are already talking about ways that they do as they say, caused the fiscal cliff to drive the car of the class. there looking for ways to mitigate the damage to the middle class, always middle-class people factor in. >> well, giving entitlements are on the table. is something obama vomiting want to talk about during the campaign, but i think he has to talk about it. he has to look at where those trends are going to be. i think the trade-off i'm not is going to be getting republicans to agree to revenue raises. >> i'm going to use those final minutes to toot politicos horn. we had a 54 million page view. 7 million people came to the

website. most websites would be happy to do that in a year. we did that in a night. i think it is a testament to the journalism that our journalists do with the website. all the stuff that goes into making a successful online requires a web team, designers, and infrastructure. we build our own unit in-house. the thing that stood that kind of pressure, the firehose and traffic is amazing. it requires the sales team and advertising on the website. we're not a not-for-profit, was chairman folks each and every day. requires a commitment to great journalism. i know there's a lot of cynics out there to look at the coverage and don't trust that they get. we only hire folks really committed to trying to figure out what's going on the governance, what's going on in politics. did we get it right every single time? we do each and every day and the results speak for themselves. the people who helped produce the show, the amount of work for

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chicago. you've got a ball with it and you're able to do that because you have these folks that do it. at the end of the day, the journalists working around the clock. we have hundreds of editors and reporters. they dedicate themselves to this. we cannot thank them enough. robert allbritton, the folks at bat to let it go. the company has now been in existence for five plus years. as a time when people thought we were nuts. without the "washington post." we were all at the "washington post." we basically took the "washington post" admitted exponentially better. the booking team. the folks who get all of the stress to bring us the bonbon genes of the world. we don't just do this. we do morning show, hundreds and hundreds of hits because we think it's important to get

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talks about mexico without her parents immigrated to the united states illegally the book festival at george mason university in virginia side of the look

to and and and and he is i was

nine and a half years old and he thought i would not be able to make it across the border. we had to run across the border illegally. i thank him to bring me here. and we took a bus from mexico city. >> it's right on the border? >> yes. it was a very long two-day bus ride. because i had rarely been in any kind of cars and i got carsick many times along the way. >> i remember having a lot of guilt because my father's that i was too little to be making that kind of crossing. i would get tired and complain about the walking and the fact that i was thirsty or hungry and

my father and the curing the a lot of times on his back. and we got caught the first two times by the border patrol. i felt guilt because i thought it was my fault. >> what happened when you got caught? >> when we got caught, we got loaded up into a van with everyone else -- we were not really talk to my border patrol. they would take my father into an office, and i remember just waiting for him in the hallway. and the border patrol people were very nice to us. and i remember they offered to get us a soda. we were drinking a soda and waiting for our backs. it was a mixed feeling where we are being treated very kindly.

knowing that they were keeping us from crossing and being able to have a chance at having her father back in our lives. postmark what happened the third time. >> guest: the third time we cross the border was very scary because my father decided that we would cross at night. he was hoping the darkness will protect us. it was pitch black, we couldn't see where we were going. a lot of times we were tripping on rocks. what i remember most about that crossing was the helicopter. there was a helicopter that came by and we were just running for our lives trying to find a place to hide. we crawled into the bushes, and i remember that a beam of light fell on my shoe and i was

praying so hard that the people have not seen me. luckily, they did not. so we made it across. >> host: would you spend your first night? >> the first night, we made it. we walked to the second house and he was responsible for driving us to l.a., and he made us lie down in the backseat, and he wouldn't let us set up because he said we could still get pulled over by border patrol. we spent the whole car ride basically lying down and it wasn't until we got to santa ana when anna when he said you can get up now. the scenes outside the window were so amazing. i remember all the palm trees. in my hometown we did not have palm trees.

it was really amazing. >> host: where did you live in l.a. when he first got here? >> i lived in highland park which is northeast of los angeles. it was a latino community. >> host: was a mostly illegal community? >> guest: what i remember as being shocked when i got to school is that the kids have

last names like me like gonzález and fernandez then they could speak a language i couldn't speak -- and that was really shocking to me. because they look exactly like me. yet, they were not. i would say that that was probably the first time that i was really aware of the fact that there were latinos but they were different from maine. ..

i do remember wanting to fit in it not been able to because i was esl student. i worked very hard at trying to finish my esl processing get out of that program. by the time i was in eighth grade, i was enrolled in regular eighth-grade english. >> host: reyna grande, there is a picture we are going to show on the air with you with a saxophone. tell us that story. >> guest: the saxophone was something i discovered when i said burbank junior high school in seventh grade. my counselor and rolled man band. it wasn't something that i chose. they put me bear. it was an elective. but i was so lucky to have been put in that class because when i

walk in there and the teachers said at first i thought i had to pay for them. i said, while how much does it cost? they said it doesn't cost you anything. it seems like the whole world is open at me. i saw the saxophone and is so beautiful and not the one i wanted. >> host: do you still play today? >> guest: i don't play anymore and i have been played since he graduated from pasadena city college. when i went to study, they didn't have marching bands, so i didn't have anything to join. then i discovered a whole bunch of other things. i got into a political, all these other things i was doing. and i really missed the saxophone and i wanted to get

back here by my teachers pulled me aside and said it's very good you are creative enough to explore and learn new things, does she need to choose one thing you want to focus on because otherwise you are going to be a jack of all trades. and i went home that day and i thought, what is it that i cannot be without? that is when i decided that writing was the one thing i couldn't live without. to give up everything else and focus on my writing. >> you're an award-winning novelist. across 100 mountains one of the according 2007. dancing with butterflies one international latino book award in 2010. this is your first nonfiction, this number. this is a very personal memoir. >> guest: it is extremely personal, yes. that's the only way i know how to write. even with my fiction, even

though it is fiction, is also inspired by personal x. says. and that the memoir, there many times when i was afraid to go there because of his extremely personal and i wasn't just writing about myself. is writing about my family, about my parents. there were many times when i felt i was writing things that i shouldn't. but then i felt that i was going to write a memoir, i needed to be completely honest with this story and to turn my pain and my fear into my strength instead of them being my weaknesses. >> host: reyna grande, did you read this book commercially in english or spanish? >> guest: i was writing english first. unfortunately, when i take this country i got so obsessed with learning english that i neglected my native tongue.

for many come in many years all i did was eat and breathe english to the point that when i got to college i was a writing tutor and i was tutoring native english speakers and teaching them how to write better english. but when i was in college, i got exposed to spanish for spanish speakers and that's when i took those classes and senate were going to reclaim a native tongue. but i was writing english because it's so natural to me that i don't have to think about the language, the vocabulary as i'm writing. when i try to write in spanish combine to pick pick up a dictionary of a single minute in the completely posting out of the store because they have to think about the vocabulary. so i write everything in english and then i do my own translation. so i translated a couple hundred

mountains myself. and then "the distance between us" will be published in spanish next year and i did the translation also. >> to your novel so well and spanish? >> guest: they don't sell as well and spanish as in english. i think that's the most for the ones published in spanish that the spanish don't have the same aspect and part of that is because, you know, people can -- the readers for spanish books can't afford to buy a book and they don't have access to the books, you know, especially in low-income communities. there's no bookstores anywhere and they think it's hard for them to really get access to the book. >> host: we are talking with reyna grande whose number is called "the distance between us: a memoir," published by simon &

schuster. reyna grande, tell us the life story. >> guest: the life story? him in the kerosene story? >> host: you went to school needed a sanitation on you. >> guest: okay, okay. when i came to elementary in fifth grade, one day the nurse showed up in the teachers came to inspect other kids for life. i was so shocked because i could understand is that it happened in mexico because all of us had lice. you know, we were all poor kids coming to school barefoot and dirty and we all had lice. but in l.a., i just didn't expect there to be lice. and for a second there, i thought maybe they across the border illegally like i had. and i got inspect it and it

turned out that i had lice and i was so afraid to go home and tell that to my dad because i didn't want him to think that i was still the dirty little girl he left behind in mexico. i thought he was going to beat me as well because that was his favorite way of disciplining us. it turned out my father was not angry at me and he didn't blame me and he didn't beat me. it was a very beautiful moments because he took me out to the yard and he looked for life and cleaned out my hair and spent like two hours looking through my hair, looking for life and he was so gentle when he did it but it's just like such a painfully beautiful moment for me. and then he was telling me stories about when i was a baby then of course i didn't

remember. but it was before he came to the u.s., before you left me in mexico, he told me every time he would come home for lunch during his break i would be waiting outside with a bowl and i would tell him to give me that. i wouldn't let anybody be me except for him. the everyday he he would come in basically spent his whole lunch hour just giving me a bath instead of eating. and he said that i wouldn't have it any other way. and when he told me that, i don't know, i thought it was such a beautiful moment that i got to share again. >> host: reyna grande, that's one of the few yearbooks is tender and beautiful about your father. >> guest: gas , yes. pgh my father was a very complicated man and he was suffering from alcoholism. he was suffering i think from also a bat up bringing. his parents were very abusive towards him and unfortunately,

he repeated the same cycle with us. but as i was writing the memoir, even though i was writing about this very hard, painful moments that i spend with him as suffering from a lot of their peers, i also got a chance to revisit all the happy memories. one of the things that i hold most dear is that my father tommy to value education. he was such a tyrant about it and he often threatened to send it back to mexico if i didn't do well in school. there was a scary threat because i really did believe him. i didn't want to go back to mexico and i wanted to make him proud. and then another thing i felt, too, was because a big ten to bring me, i felt that i owed him that. i felt that i never wanted my

father to say i shouldn't have brought you. and it was thought that really always motivate me to do really well in school, to do all these great things that he wanted it to do because i didn't want to hear that ever from my dad. he never said that to me, he didn't. but yeah, my dad -- and as i was writing the book, i really wanted tunic short that he didn't come across as the villain in the story. you know, i really wanted to give him his humanity because he's had some really great things come my dad. but he was also dealing with a lot of difficulties that unfortunately affected our relationship. >> host: you tell a story about how he wanted to go to church and hard of a budweiser and said this is my god. but major father passed? >> guest: he passed away last year. >> host: alcoholism?

>> guest: yes, he died from cirrhosis. he actually gave up drinking in the late 90s. he gave up drinking and he became very religious. he was a seventh-day adventist. but he never got himself checked. and then, a year and a half ago when he went to the doctor, they told him he had liver or peered he really held on to the hope that he would get better, that he was to be transferred at some point and he never came out of the hospital. >> host: did his sobering up change your relationship? >> guest: not too much because by the time he sobered up, things have gotten way too that. even though he has sobered up, he was still very distant and he

treated one obsession for another. and no, he went from being an alcoholic excessive alcohol to be in this religious or not eric. and i remember a lot of times that my siblings and i would invite him over to our family gatherings. he wouldn't come because he had to be a church and he always had to be a church. and we always felt like we lose either way. you know, he could be an alcoholic or religious and were going to lose anyway because he'll never make as priority. and i know when i got married he was going to walk down the aisle. what tennis is fighting going to start? i have to go to my church. hurry up. i felt so hurt because i only get married once here. your churches they are, it's always going to be there. but he kept looking at his clock and then we were done with the

ceremony, he took off right after that. he stayed for the reception for a little bit, but i felt so horrible the whole time, thinking that i'm never going to be more important to my father and other things and it really hurt me a lot. >> host: word is your mother figure in the story? >> guest: i heard ever talk about my mother. i have a lot of issues with my mom. anybody who reads the memoir will know why. but my mother, she still lives. she is still in l.a. she lives about 20 minutes away from me. and it's been actually not that it become a writer and i have to travel a lot, i have to say that as an away help me to have a better relationship with her. right now but i'm here she is with my children. she comes over, takes care of

them. she really tries to help me out whenever she can. it is really help me to understand by having their own children. i can understand what it's like to be torn between being a mother and being a woman with her own dreams and aspirations. every time i have to leave my house and my daughter asks me how long i'm going to be gone, i remember her mother and how i would ask her how long she was going to be gone. i really do understand how hard it is to be torn into and what to do right by your kids and at the same time want to go out into the world to pursue your own dreams. i have a better relationship with another, but tabulators still an emotional distance.

there was an emotional distance. >> host: sometimes your mother would be gone for years. she came to the u.s. in egypt even know it. >> guest: she's still like that in a way, you know, where she does things that we don't fit into the equation sometimes. and it's been a struggle to get her to be a little more motherly. i think at this point we've come to expect that's the way she is and we just take her as she is. i think it helps because we're not disappointed. i do hope we could be a better grandmother. i know my great-grandmother, my mother said she wasn't such a great mother.

but to ask him if she was the most wonderful grandmother in the world. so i'm hoping that's the way my children feel for her as well. that's all i want for my kids have a good relationship. >> host: reyna grandecan assume other mother to read this book, or does she know within a? >> guest: she hasn't read the book is it's in english and my mother does not speak english. she knows some of us in it because i told her this is the story about my childhood and growing up in the u.s. and i write about you, my dad, but i don't think my mother really understand about how i saw her as the daughter and how her actions determined my childhood

and how my childhood was really defined by her out since. i don't think she understands that. so i am curious to see what she's going to say when it comes out. >> host: trant read. has anyone else can. that is -- when i read it i thought about angela's ashes. >> guest: well, hector risa reviews for "the l.a. times." that's what he compared it to in his review. i was just beyond honored to be even in the same sentence as angela's ashes because that's such a wonderful book and it's one of my favorite books. for someone to say that my book is the angela's ashes at the democratic. , i was just really thrilled. there are similarities.

we both talk about poverty, about our relationships with deadpan, that's just struggling to overcome, you know, all the obstacles and being able to go above and beyond what we thought we ever could. there are many similarities, although i think, you know, one of the best things about angela's ashes is there so much younger that balance is all that depressing stuff that he writes about. and i'm not very humorous, originally. i would love to write more humor in my work, but i write from a very deep place that has mostly pain and sadness and that's where my writing comes from.

there's thinking, you know, i was thinking about frida k-kilo because she's one of my idols. i was thinking how similar we are in that way because she also takes it from a place of pain and that's the way i write. and when i'm happy, i cannot write. and sometimes i tell my husband, because he's so wonderful. i'm like you're going to have to make the miserable because i cannot write. i'm so happy here. so sometimes it is very hard to read but i feel good. >> host: reyna grande committee think your experience, and across the border, burn up the way you did, an illegal immigrant, is that a common experience, do you think? >> guest: it's definitely very common. my experience of being a child left behind and separated from my parents and being brought here to the u.s. as a child by

my parents, it's very common. when i was researching this topic, i learned 80% of latin american children in u.s. schools get separated from a parent in the process of migration. that's a lot of kids being separated from parents who are coming here as undocumented child immigrants. so definitely, my experience is not unique, but there's not a whole lot of awareness, you know. when people talk about immigration, very seldom do they can figure out other side of immigration, which is about the children who get left behind, who later come to the u.s. to be reunited with their parents. we don't talk about how immigration breaks up families and how it takes a toll on the whole family.

this is one of the reasons i wanted to write about this because it sounds lame but can experience the definitely scarred me, that it shapes the woman i am today and also annexed areas that i think right now, with the dreamers, you know, the young, undocumented people who were fighting to get their legal status i felt was an important story in terms of giving people an insight into what their situation might be like. i catch up on the fact that, you know, my family benefited from the amnesty of 1986. i had a green card by the time i was 14. so the moment i got my green card, you know, the whole world opened up to me and they were so many possibilities that came my way but i was able to jump on because i had a green card and i would really love to see this happen to the trimmers, you

know, for us to give them that chance to pursue their dreams and to also give back to society, you know, because they will pay everything back the wac has been paid back, through my writing, throughout the work that i do. so i want to see that happen for them. >> host: we've been talking with reyna grande, "the distance between us: a memoir". simon & schuster title. you are watching booktv on c-span 2. >> next, tony danza recounts his hook, "i'd like to apologize to every teacher i ever had." this is 40 minutes.

[applause] >> hello, everyone. hi, nick. that is white nick. i had another nick. what a mike in a few clicks i can't believe what i'm standing backstage, listening to ms. carroll see those things about me, i want you to know -- by the way, ms. carol, the cameras quit in january, by the way. you know why? i thought -- i thought i'd figured out a way to make teaching pay. [laughter] atb job, right? be a teacher and a tv job. then they left in january and i was a real teacher. no, the listening to ms. carol

say those nice things about me, the greatest compliment is at the end of the year i've gone through this journey with her. i'm reading your stuff. she asked me, what i consider coming back. i thought that was the greatest compliment, you know. they said to her, you know, at this stage i'm not sure what to care this much about anything. [laughter] well, i just want to thank you all first of all for being here. i appreciate you coming. and another thing, it sure is weird, writing this book and being out on this tour. a lot of teachers, to me. by the way, most of them say i accept your apology. [laughter] everywhere i go, people are going, i accept. but i realize, you know, and i

did do a year. i stayed to hear. it is no small feat. i know there's a lot of teachers here, but it's 181 days. not that i was counting. but it's the funniest thing about being a teacher is snow days are bad. riverwood studies for good? for teachers nowadays are bad because you lose your momentum. they come back like they haven't been there. it's the greatest thing. anyway, i digress. i did do that here and sometimes people go wow, a whole year. but when you see the need in commitment of other people, you know, commitment to the teachers that it then they are, one of the things that is really sad, but has to happen is that many of the baby boomer teachers are now retiring and a lot of times they resorted to that phone is a school in a lot of cases.

i think that lynn dixon and some of the teachers there when i was sayre would've been a a very different experience. there is a guy in the school, chuck carr, had of the math department, very skeptical about me. so i'm sitting in my room at the skybox and come, big guy, white-haired, a bunch of books. he says, hello? i said hello. he said are you here to act the teacher, mr. danza? or be a teacher, mr. danza? i just got here. but at the end of the year, we were walking down the hall and he was coming back. he decided -- it did in newspapers to retired and then decided not to retire. i asked him why he wasn't coming back. he said maybe this to get it right. so 37 years, holy math rule. so i do understand.

sometimes i do feel pretentious that i should be the one talking about this because i was only there for one year. the one year i was there was quite a year, quite a journey. by the way, it's great to be back in philly. can't wait to get paid cheesesteak. [applause] by the way, ms. carroll is a print and for those of you who are teachers come you know how it is to advocate is supposed. [applause] so i guess i should do is try to tell you how this all started seeping idea of what i was thinking. see, i was closing in on 60, okay? observe the speed limit. so is closing in and had just gotten fired. i had a talk show on in philly here. thank you. thanks, mom. and i was heartbroken.

i really was. as thinking you know, maybe you should think about something else. i said it again and 60, which i do it the rest of my life? i went to school to be a teacher and didn't do it and my life would not. i remember when i had my first pro fight to my mother spent all that money sending me to college to be a teacher and is fighting. she's like, are you out of your mind? then i told her is going to be a cab driver. she said are you crazy? and then? dominica taxi and she changed her mind. but anyway, i was feeling down and sorry for myself to tell you the truth. i left that job in new york, but i had this thing about teaching. it's been in my mind a lot time. anyone who's watched who's the boss knows that tony -- [applause] it's so cool to have that, you

know. but anybody who's watching us that tony became a teacher. my character actually became a teacher. that was no accident. so it's been something that was on my mind. i like most americans worried about the education in america. every president since as long as i could remember has been the education president. every time, he's going to be the guide. so i wanted to fulfill that thing. arthur miller said that the best thing you can hope for is that you add up what the rate regret. and so, i had this regret, one of my great regrets is that i was not the best student. you know, i didn't really understand that the teacher was come you know how much writing real hard and that was his life or her life's work and i was one of those guys to try to charm my

way through, try to charm the teacher and do as little as possible and get high. if i would've spent as much time studying as i did conniving, i would then albright. so i had that regret, too. i think it is one of the things we have to do what now if we're ever going to fix education. is that the kids have to understand this is an important moment in their lives and it's not like it was when i was a kid that she couldn't fool around. i got lucky. but even if he did in those days, you could get an assembly line job for a construction job and have a middle-class life because the country would give you that. that's not the way it is anymore. in the book -- this is really -- let me cut to the chase. forget about how i got here. this is really what i think is an art. i don't think until we convince

the kids that we want more for them than the one up for themselves. [applause] and it's almost like -- it's almost like you needed national camp theme of some kind, akin to the way we change the attitude of the country about smoking or got drunk driving. much of that baby have to convince -- the kids and i -- here's my psa. i gave one detention. the kids wanted me to get the detention. the good kids want to see the bad kids get punished because otherwise they can't figure it out. so a couple of grocery to me, mr. danza, you've got it grow some. [laughter] but you know, as a teacher, and i'm sure you are aware of this. you don't want to come down because if you come down you might use them even worse. so it's trying to find the sweet

spot. but finally the day came a second semester. charmaine. her name was charmaine curt she was a great kid and a great student. other times she's a maniac. so she comes in late. i told her don't be late and she comes in and disrupt the class. that was that, i pulled the trigger. et cetera, that the pink slip. she gave it to me back and i filled out a pink slip and send it down. i said that the detention. i didn't know when i gave the detention i had to be there. bathmat [laughter] don't they just go to some detention place? anywhere, so she meets at 7:15 in the morning. we talk and i was constantly

trying to beat the same. i wanted them to learn from my mistake you don't have to do this. you can be a good student and have fun. it's not mutually exclusive. you don't have to be one or the other. so at a big sign amid the kids put the sign up, take part in your education. just tried to chill dissent because this is what i was missing. so i say to charmaine, i say how long do you think you're going to be in school? chic is forever. [laughter] i said no and you're not. if it is your life. you don't want to be over here looking back saying i wish i would've done better. and what happens here will affect the rest of your life. you've got to understand that. i don't know in this culture,

you know, we have this crazy culture that sent messages to kids every day that are antithetical to education and undermine education. i mean, i tell the kids hey, good behavior and hard work will pay off your day would go watch "jersey shore" and say mr. dan, you're wrong. [laughter] here's the problem. i was talking to this very wealthy woman, old money. she went to work on "jersey shore." italian, i don't know. anyway, she says i hate the people on that show. i've got no love lost for the people on that show. don't get me wrong. but i was 22 when he told me that we should act that it will pay you, i'd be afraid of the footage. so i said to her, i've got no love lost for this kid, but how do you feel about the suits issue with last night, mr. dinner with last night making billions up putting this

on the air and making billions of dollars off of that? one of my friends, a guy from viacom made $84 million/year. mr. elastica 2.5 million out of her school. something is wrong with this. he made $84 million on the backs of my boys. [applause] and believe me, i know there's bad teachers. there's bad actors. but i saw more discouraged teachers. i really did. and the statistics bear it out. 30% after three years, almost 50% after five years quit. just as they get good, they've got to get out there.

so all of that, that's my solution. i don't know how you'd implement. how about the messages you send the kids? i walk into northeast thai, great school, but you know schools have a look. and they say this is important and then they go to the mall and see what that looks like. no, this is important. and that's the thing. his messages constantly go to the kids. they've got to send us that their message. if the teachers do every day. it's what i try to do. like i said, considering the environment that we live in, i'm not sure how you go about doing that. for me, this was a journey once the cameras left, it was really funny. i thought i was going to lose my authority. i was afraid that i would loose

my authority. once they were gone it was so liberating. it was the greatest. second semester is much better than first semester. everybody is much more comfortable they are. and that's when i learned my first semester, you know, i was writing some teacher jokes, you know, like for instance, you'd use those organizers. some of the words, some of the terms. collaborative teaching, madeleine. and then somebody told me i needed a venn diagram. i heard that, i made a.disappointment. [laughter] i'm sorry. the second part of this journey was really writing the book. you know, it's almost as hard as teaching. i mean it, it really is. i wrote a coat hook with my son.

this is the closest i came. my son was born when i was 19, said he got to grow up with my uncles and aunts and grandparents and he and i wrote stories about uncles and aunts. i said that's it right there. that's very nice. it's called don't fill up on the anti-pasta. we wrote this book and connected stories to the recipes. but this is like writing a book. and not only that, a sort of the same kind of responsibility. here's another thing we don't talk about teachers, that you have a job to do, but it also has this tremendous weight of the future of the children. i mean, you mess up that day and they don't get the data back. it's the only 10th grade they were going to get. that's why it's so nice.

for people who saw the show, i did a lot of crying. at first i was crying because i was scared. i thought a bit off more than i can chew and i can't do this. but then i started crying because either they broke my heart or made my heart soar. it was either one or the other. you know, they do that to you. i wanted to tell the story for the rest of it and also talk about what i see, what i thought and some issues. i mean, it's not a book that preaches, but listens to lend the book. i kept very good records. i kept a journal. i have the video, lesson plans. so i'm pretty close to what really happened and we discussed a lot of the issues in the book. a lot has changed, though since i was here two years. my kids graduated yet i was the commencement speaker. it was so cool. but she's dealing, like all

schools, with such budget cuts. i know she mentioned the fundraiser we did the teachers versus student talent show. it was great. but the reason that it works, the audience came is because they have laid off one of the school nurses because of budget cuts. and don't get me wrong, it's bad enough they are laying off the chimp teachers, our teachers and shop teachers, but the school nurse? i don't mean to nicklas said the other, but we went on television for a little promotion and it was very different from when i was hearing the promotion. we did a promotion last time. we had a good crowd, but this time i mention the school nurse. there's like over two dozen people came out. it was great, unbelievable. so you are dealing with this kind of change here.

it was hard enough then. i can imagine taking more out of the budget. i am a union guy. [applause] my father was a garbage man for the city and i've been in the screen actors guild for 35 years myself. i just don't count on the benevolence of companies. i just don't. i think we have to be together. [applause] and i'm also big supporter of public education in that it is a method named -- it levels the field for all of us. we all do it together, instead of us being more chop it up into little groups, i think 40 schools, up to 64 privatizers. don't get me wrong.

i want the kids to have a great teacher, being a good school and to want to learn. but the way this looks to me, and i'm just calling it as i see it. it looks like the forerunner of a two-tier system, we have one groups. the kids at the motivated parents and the motivated students in one school in the house the poorest but the most -- by the way, here's another thing. that's one of my problems, i talk too much and i had adhd. but one of things you have to tell the kids is in spite of what are formidable and legitimate obstacles, i mean, no matter what they are on the weather is poverty, violence, no home, no parents.

that teacher, i don't care. you still have to make this piece of your life work. they say he had a bad teacher. that's what we've got to try to make them understand. that's what is in the book a little bit. [applause] on just wrap this up. i feel the hook, ms. carol. anyway, i just want to thank you so much. by the way, i wrote 90,000 words. just so you get an idea of what this is like. i decide i want to write this book and it was painful. it really was. i found a book about writing. it's called first to fix the refrigerator. you will do anything, rather than sit there.

i'll fix the refrigerator. but anyway, i wrote 90,000 words. some say you wrote a book, give me a break. i want to be honest. i did have some help. i handed in my manuscript. it was an amazing feeling to push the send that. by the way, you know how i started doing it? i was getting so distracted by what good to sleep at 7:00 in the wake up at 2:00 in the morning and wait till 6:00. good at the gym, work out and go what is that? but i wrote 90,000 words, handed in my manuscript and the publishers at random house said we've got to get you an editor. and that got me this wonderful woman who really helped me. somehow she found 75,000 pretty good words in there. so i got the book. anyway, i know we're going to spend some time together. i really hope you enjoy it.

listen, i really mean it. i do apologize to every teacher i've ever had. [applause] >> repass out how cars. tony wanted to do this more impromptu. so keep it alive. so if you raise your hand, will try to do as many as we can. we only have 20 minutes. that kind of repair? >> yeah, that guy. because he's of the book. hi, how are you, kid? yes, sir.

>> either class and i asked the kids about you and the reaction was really favorable. and the other thing is, when i was a mere shadow, you had the decency to send me a card and thanked me. >> he was great in the talent show. >> i wanted sensual dancing, but i saying. it was a big mistake. [applause] >> next question right here in the second row, lady with her hand up. please raise your hand. >> yeah, you said that you cried a lot, from sadness. what was the most was the next variants? >> there were so many. they were really so many dickensian now, there were times when they just put a stake in your heart.

and they're rather times,, like immediately after similar nature had run into you just did this to me. but this is in the book. i had a poetry contest. i wanted the kids to learn a poem. i said you know, i've got a couple teachers in the schools would memorize a poem and brought them up and show the kids come above comments about memorizing a poem. it had to be 10 lines long and the only prerequisite was we had to google it silly could make a poster board with some historical context biography, figurative language to give some depth to it. they had to memorize the palm and perform in front of the class. i got a bunch of teachers in numbers than they made it like a big thing. and here's the big advantage of being a rich teacher is that i could go but prices. so first prize is a flip can.

the first prize is a flip can and a hundred dollars. second prize is $8. so it's a big drop-off. so you know, i gave them time to learn a poem. i said i can learn a poem in one night and they picked the palm and i learned 32 lines in one night. so anyway, but as a commencement speaker i did the whole poem and kids were like this guy is crazy. but anyway, so there was one particular girl in the class who was another -- she was a challenge, a real challenge. beautiful, but a challenge. and an enigma. this was the thing about it, you've got this class and they all have lives and all this

stuff going on in there. i've got this other thing. people say, what's the hardest thing about being a teacher? luscious star with an 50 teenagers. people say 150 students in the sun for sounds almost okay. you see teenagers, they say i get that. but anyway, she was a challenge. i had to stay out of her way because she would go fight the guys. she was really some pain. she sat in the back excuse that emmanuel who she drove crazy. the second of the class, i give them like 20 minutes to memorize the poems were going to have this context. i was walking around, looking at a poem. i look over her shoulder and her poem was about a deadbeat father, an absent father. and it just got me. it crystallized, you know, who knows what she is going through.

and i have daughters, so i go up the aisle. and from behind i hear, you cried? [laughter] i said no, i am not cried. and then the other kid, this great kid says you're a crybaby, mr. dann said. i said i am not cried. this is why we breed poetry. [laughter] ..

she just dissolved in to tears. she starts sobbing. she runs out in to the hallway. now, by the way, i'm telling you, the girl beat up everybody in the classroom. now she's crying. you know, he's out there. i -- okay, i'll be back. by the way, a teacher can never have too many tissues. [laughter] go out to the hallway and she's out there -- [crying] don't you see, remember what i told you. this is what we read poted try for. to get in touch of your feelings. it's wonderful that you found a poem that touches you. i said do you want to go back inside she said i have to get tobacco steer. [laughter] i said, i don't care how you do. let's go do it. [laughter] we go inside, we go inside, and

she starts again. and here we go. take two, and, you know, i do the whole thing, ladies and gentlemen, direct from the sands hotel. i do the thing. and she starts again, and she starts to cry again. and she did this thick that was so heart breaking. she open her arms and lookinged up at the sky and said why can't i say this fricken poem. and she runs out to the hallway again. we finally got her through the poem. i get an e-mail every once awhile. she knows the poem still. [applause] lady in blue. >> hi, i'll troy not to cry. i wrote it down. i thought i was going to have to turn it in. i'm a new teacher and i thought in filing philadelphia for two

and a half years. i care so much about it. i want to do. it i've never been so stressed out and unhappy in my own private time. i love the classroom. but i cry every weekend, and i don't have a life, and i just . >> imagine if you get married. [laughter] i don't think that's going to happen. >> i know. what do you do then? >> i think i might be one of the people that has to walk away to be happy. it's upsetting. >> we hate to lose you. >> i have recognize why that is . >> here's the only thing i can say. here's the only thing. i got a letter from the guy once after the show was on couple of a weeks. i got a letter from a teacher who said that he used to think he was the only one who eye cried and he told me that every day after school, i close the door in any classroom and i sit at my desk and sob he says to me. and, you know, i mean, it's i don't know -- you have to read

the book, i think. maybe it's the only thing. because i think the only thing can i tell you you're not alone. you're in the alone. [applause] it is a battle. plldz [applause] the hope is that, you know, it gets better. i don't know how it's going get better. and then the other hope is, here's the one thing i can give you, it's also in the book i'm going read you the whole book here. when i was leaving there was a teacher there, a great teacher she taught at martin luther king. she was incredible. he's -- anything you need for a classroom from magic pencils to a viking helmet. she's got it, you know. she gave me on the way out, at the end, people were so nice to me in northeast, i mean, it.

it got to the point i had to get away. it was like, you know, i felt like, you know, i didn't do that much. i just felt so -- as i was walking out, we said goodbye to each other. i had to make a train, she handed me a box. a little box. i was like, another one of her things, you know. so i got on the train and i took it out. and it was a little plaque with a scroll with on it and tells a story of a big storm that royals the ocean and washes thousand star fish out to the beach. thousands of star fish out on to the beach. clouds break, sun comes out and starts to bake the star fish. guy comes wack walking along and see the star fish. he starts picking them up and throwing in the water. another guy comes along said and there's so many of them. you're not making much of a difference.

he picked up another one and threw it in the water and said i made a difference to that one. that's the only thing you're looking for to try to make -- [applause] and i'm not sure we got any of them in the water. maybe a little closer. i wish i could tell you more i want to give you a raise night now. you know what, i mean? [applause] >> a fellow against the wall. we'll start with the gentleman here on the right. right that gentleman. >> why philadelphia and northeast high school? >> well, philadelphia because they let me. [laughter] northeast high school because they let me. i had did have a little choice. philadelphia made another -- he was the champion in the project.

that's how i got here. but he actually offered three schools, i can't remember the third one. central, -- that's what it was [inaudible] and northeast. and northeast to me was the most comprehensive. it's a big school, he has everything from magnitude to special ed, it's, you know, it's just an incredible, you know, i mean, it. it's an organism. it's amazing. i felt it was a more representative snapshot of what i was thinking about. i hope that, you know, answer your question. >> very much like you, i got in to teaching business fifteen years ago after doing a lot of other things in the world. the reason why because i was tired of blaming teachers and i said let me step in their shoes and let he see the job they have

to do. it is not easy. i hope i like your book as well as i like the show. i'm sure i will. >> i hope so too. >> my question, i'm wondering since so you experienced this and i have experienced this. do you think if a lot of people who have to make the diss about our educational system administrators and politicians and the like, if they were required to go out and actually do something similar -- [applause] a lot of them say they used to be teachers, you know, but, you know, i'm going, okay. >> i'll tell you something. it's bad, you know how bads? this is how bad it is. i was talking to a guy the other day about my book. i was some place. one of the shows the "the view" or something. and try going on that show alone. [laughter] thankthank you very. i love them to, by the way.

the guy says to me, my wife is a teacher. been teaching fifteen years. i said, tell her i hope she looks the bock. i hope she looks it. it's really a tough job. he said, come on she just had ten weeks off. that's the husband of the teacher. so if the husband of the teacher, imagine if you don't know her i don't know what, i mean. it's as simple as that. how i got talked to the reality show. i want do you know something, i had no use for reality. i have no time for that baloney. and my argument was the reason it wouldn't work is because it's cross purposes. the tv shows purpose is ratings. the teachers purpose is the kids. there's can't go together. and that was a problem. but they convinced me that we could do it. and to some degree we did. to some degree. but the thought was that maybe

if we had a tv show that actually was inside of the high school, inside the teachers shoes maybe it would give the kind of experience to people that it would have a wider impact. of course, it only lasted six weeks that makes it tough. [laughter] yeah. okay. >> we have time for one more. okay. we'll end with the lady here. >> we'll get you, sir. you're coming next, sir. >> you're coming next. >> what's you were next project, tony? >> my next project, i'm actually working on -- this is crazy. it's early stages i'm working on a new sitcom for abc. [applause] i want to do something of a -- i want to do a show sort of like the golden girls but guys. [laughter] [applause] i wanted to discuss that kind of stuff. yeah. and then in one more little

crazy thing, i have this, you know, a tripped of mine passed away. she ran restaurant in new york called elaines. it's gone now. the you are few agree are all over the place. can't find a place to have a drink. but anyway, i'm thinking about maybe try to open west side elaines. i want it near my apartment. west side elaine's elaine's west side one word. it's not elaine's it's elaine's west side. they'll sue me and sue me. i'll get publicity and be on a post. and i'll rename it tony's and i'll have a hit. [applause] can you get the gentleman right there? yes, sir. >> it's the shirt, man. [laughter] have you discovered the secret of motivating the unmotivated or defiant student? >> i just -- there's only, the

only tool you have is persistence. the only tool you have is. and the other tool, i think, maybe there's one other tool, your enthuse yafm and excitement for the stuff you teach. if i'm excited about it, they're excited about it. the other thing i try to -- the other thing i try to do because of how i felt about my own experience was i tried to connect everything to their lives. so if i'm teaching julius caesar and i'm telling them they should understand the little bit of your life is important. brew us says to cash shoes when you are going to fight anthony. omitted the rest of his life is -- misery. you understand that? he said in 1600. i understand that. that's the kind of thing. i think it's persistence. i had a challenging kid, in the book is i changed his name his

name a al leep g. he graduated, by the way. aye! but i wouldn't give up on him. i mean it. and there's a scene in the thing where i visit him in jail. i mean, [laughter] it's not really jail. but, you know. so, i mean, i just -- again, it goes back to the young lady's question, you know. it's so tough. how do you do it? it's a call, with, you know, it's a calling. and then here's the beauty. so since miss carol is here. i have to tell you the story and i'll finish. i got a chance to take the kids, i see the book. i got a chance to take the kids to new york city. and we got on a bus and we were having a trip. so all the sudden, it was not only new york city, we were going to see "west side story" and go to my friend's restaurant pat sei's on 56th and eighth. i'm going it take the doidz the

fancy italian restaurant and west side story. and so people started, you know, like teachers, you know, wanted to be chap roans. they wanted to be -- [laughter] so and of course, you know, okay. it was like by the time we had -- i think it was three students to one teacher. but anyway, okay. but anyway, i got -- miss carol wanted to come on the trip. the principal wanted to come on the trip. i go to the class, and they were all we're going new york! aye! listen, you know, who is going with us? most of us. everybody on a couple of others. couple of others. boy, i want you to know miss cirl wants to go on the trip. no! not the principal.

we'll never have any fun! i said, okay, you know, it's a perfect chance and opportunity to teach you a life lesson that will serve you well if you learn it. it's called making the best of the bad situation. [laughter] not that miss carol is a bad situation. i used her. come on, chant it along. chant it. making the best of the bad situation. we started chanting and it sounded like sheep. i said to them, let me explain something to you. she's going. we can handle it one of two ways, we can tell her we don't want her to go hurt her feelings. i hear she has a helve a memory. or we can write her a note and say we're going new york. we won't go without you and a friend in the principal officer. it's took awhile but they sort of got that. well, to answer your -- this goes back to the -- so months

later within and, by the way, it came up i have to say it coming up in mockingbird. months later i'm sitting in class and grading papers sister like a, you know, i'm sitting there and grading papers. a kid walks in, hey, mr. danza. away? i -- [inaudible] you today. you quoted me? what did you say. i said make the best of a bad situation. [laughter] thank you. thank you very much. [cheering and applause] tony danza. coming up on c-span2 a look at the life of phillip sheridan who forced the surrender of robert e lee and the discussion of the war impact of war of 1812 with the author nichole. visit booktv.org to watch any of the programs you here online. type the author or book title in the search bar on the upper left

side of the page and click search. you can oles share anything you see on booktv.org. easily by clicking "share" on the upper left side of the page and selecting format. booktv streams live online for 48 hours every weekend with top-non-fiction books and authors. booktv.org. on april 9th. 1865 robert e lee rounder surrendered. next a look at the life of union general who forced the surrender. author joseph whey lane talks about his book. in which recounts the military tactics and post war career. this is 45 minutes. [applause] i want to thank you for

inviting me back and people coming back from phil chair of the union general credited with winning civil war he's the least known of them. the others being you lis sis s grant and william here sherwin. in 19. , the three general appear together on a -- part of a series honoring great u.s. military commanders. in the center grant to the right is sherman, an sheraton on the left. this is a appropriate because by the time civil war ended, sheraton was sometime referred to as to the left-hand side of grant the left-handed. he was ten years longer than grant and sherman. he was a dynamo inspired the men with the intensity and by the

personal leadership. he lead from the front. but he was also a careful planner. yet he was one who promptly acted on a plan and once it was made and willing to change it, if the conditions changed on the battle field. but during the war, here is chair ton because a household name because of the great victory especially a cedar creek. for waging what was called a total war there. he was one of grant's most dpenlble generals. so much so during the closing day of the war, he became the de facto commander of the army of the plateau mick. few would dispute that he was the most aggressive commanding general the union had. he first fought in the war's western theater. at stone river, tennessee.

his alertness and tenacity saved general william's army from ienllation from the last day on 1862. the division stormed missionary rimpleg in november 1863. he brought sheraton east with him. sheraton spent the last year of the war in virginia. after the war, sheraton carried out the government three construction policy in the louisiana and texas. he waged a cold war on the mexican border. during the plains indian war, he was the army's top indian fighter. eventually became commander in chief of the army. and surprisingly, phil saved yellow stone nation park from exploitation.

sheraton grew up in ohio and graduated from west point within 1853. in the civil war began in 1861 he was an on cure 30-year-old infantry cabinet. he first recognized sheraton's leadership ability in 1862, which sheraton was commanding a cavalry brigade that defeated a larger rebel force in mississippi tree months after -- in chattanooga in november 1863 the division stormed missionary ridge and pursued the confederates for hours when no one else did. grant knew then that sheraton was much like him, someone who would act promptly, who find always and never quit. the hundreds of generals that served on both sides of the

civil war just a handful met the description. grant brought sheraton east with him when president ab him lincoln appointed grant general chief of all union forces. the first command was the cavalry -- union cavalry had improved a lot since the beginning of the war. but it was still being used primarily for scouting, guarding wagon trains and patrolling picket lines. sheraton was determined to change that. with grant's blessing, he forged the cavalry corp. in to an independent strike force. at the yellow in may 1864, the troopers overwhelmed the rebel cavalry. stewart was wounded in the battle and died the next day it was another hard blow to the con fed are a say.

coming almost a year to the day after stone wall jackson's death. grant's confidence was reward bid sheraton's battle field victory and the impressive post war achievement. when he was president, grant once told a congressman that sheraton had no superior as a general living or dead than possibly know call. sheraton said, grant, was capable more than general ship. he could manage a territory as any two nations can cover in a war. but sheraton would never risen so high nor would we have had city and counties named after him. [inaudible] circle in washington depicts sheraton the towering war house. the act of rallying the army at

cedar creek green with age, statute conveyed the elect energy. lincoln and war secretary edwin stanton thought that 33-year-old sheraton too too young when he proposed in july that he command the new arm any of the shenandoah. sheridan's size contributed to the impression of youth that he projected. he was 5'5" and only 115 pounds in 1864. but as grants memorable belie areply -- i think you'll find him big enough for the job. before ate -- appointment, the federal general and 14,000 troops marched down the shenandoah valley. crossing the river and threat in to washington.

it was a tremendous shock. they were thrown to a panic. he rushed troops to the city from the outside of peter berg and early withdrew. to prevent a recurrence, the lincoln administration merged four military department in to a new one. the sheridan in charge of it. he was ordered to pursue the army to the death and destroy the shenandoah valley grain, produce, and livestock. grant told share dan don should be nothing left to invite the enemy to return. a first he did more than maneuver. he been cautioned to not go on the defensive. a defeat would harm president lincoln's re-election chances in november. and this was at first major command so he was moving

carefully in mid september he learned from an informant that the quaker schoolteacher in winchester named rebecca right, that sent away men to robert. e. lee's army. share sheridan saw the chance. he defeated the army at the third battle of winchester. three days later the army followed up with the second victory at fishers' hill. after the two victories in september, share dan did not expect an attack by the rebels who were out numbered roughly two to one. but a daybreak october 19th they launched a brilliant surprise attack literally catching the union soldiers sleeping. they routed the 34,000 men. sheraton was not there. three days before he had been

summed meetings in washington and not yet returned to the army. he spent the night in winchester fifteen miles away. after at quick breakfast, he left win chest we are the staff and cavalry escort. news of the debacle that was still unfold income cedar creek are not yet reached him. riding south he heard canyon fire as they drew close are the firing grew louder. then reaching a hill top she saw the magnitude of the disaster that had befallen his army who had clad soldiers swarmed toward winchester. he stopped away the next move he tried to reform a new line. most commanders would have thought only of damage control at this point. this was where sheridan dhon straited the greatness. he road down among the disheard

end men exsorting them to turn back and fight. they saw the fire commanders on the big war horse, men began to cheer. they threw their hats in the air. he road on shouting to his men they would whip the army that day and sleep in their camps that night. twice victorious under the command, they believed they turned back by the thousand and followed him. late that afternoon, sheridan counter attacked and smashed the army to pieces. confederate general john gordon wrote that the yankees roled up like a scroll. brigade after brigade were crushed in rapid succession. the command crumbled to pieces. henceforth union forces controlled shenandoah valley. in washington, citizens paraded

by torchlight through the street in celebration. standing at an open win go under the white house, president lincoln proposed three cheers for sheridan. two months earlier lyndon had despaired of being re-elected. grant's shocking casualty during the campaign without a decisive victory strength end the peace party. the calculus had changed. sherman had captured atlanta and now share dan had beaten the rebel army in the shenandoah valley. months after cedar creek he rejoined the main army outside peter berg. on april 1st, sheridan broke the eight-month siege at peter berg at five victory.

of 1864 and '5eu6r. grant's army stormed in the next day, as the tattered army of northern virginia retreated west. the pursuit late my sheraton ended a week later on april 9th palm sunday. there sheridan, his cavalry and two infantry wars got -- after the confederate surrounded he immediately sent sheridan to louisiana and texas. by the sheridan reached new orleans they already vunders.